A&T Loses Hicks
North Carolina A&T head coach Bill Hayes reported at his Tuesday
press conference that record-setting senior running back Maurice Hicks will
not play anymore this season after suffering a serious knee injury in this past
Saturday's game against Jackson State.
Hicks, who is first among black college
rushers averaging 165.6 yards per game, second best
among NCAA Div. I-AA runners, injured his left knee
when making a cut in the third quarter of A&T's 42-35 win
over JSU in the first annual Peach State Classic in
Atlanta's Georgia Dome. A&T medical personnel informed
Hayes during his weekly press conference that Hicks suffered
a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and
would likely have surgery on Thursday.
Michaux Hollingsworth, a freshman running
back who ran for 87 yards including a 38-yard touchdown
run after Hicks went down Saturday, is likely to replace
Hicks in the Aggie starting line-up. A&T, the BCSP #1
and current leader in the MEAC, has a crucial conference
date against Hampton this Saturday on MEAC Television.
Hicks, who has played only two years for the
Aggies, set a new A&T career rushing mark in Saturday's game
of 2,812 yards breaking James White's (1990-93) mark
of 2,783. Hicks rushed for 1,487 yards in 2000, a
single-season A&T record, and has 1,325 yards through
eight games this year. He topped the 100-yard rushing mark in
13 games and went over the 200-yard barrier five times.
Hicks also set the MEAC and NCAA Div. I single-game
rushing mark of 437 yards this season against Morgan
State. The output was the second best ever in college football history.
