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GREENSBORO — Carlton Fears lingered long after all his N.C. A&T teammates had showered and left.

Homecoming was over, but the Aggies’ senior quarterback seemed to not want it to end.

Not like this. Not with a 31-13 loss to Bethune-Cookman, a wounded, shorthanded team with a gadget option offense and a 3-5 record.

Not in the last home game of his college career.

So he walked back out into empty Aggie Stadium, clad in his street clothes and letterman’s jacket, for a slow stroll next to the quiet field.

Outside in the tent city of tailgating, the party went on and on. But inside, all was quiet and still.

It was as if it had never happened. But it did. The Aggies lost their sixth consecutive homecoming game, sending even the fifth-year seniors away winless on the biggest weekend of the A&T school year.

“It feels real bad,” Fears said. “I mean, it’s homecoming and it’s our last game at home. It hurts. It hurts real bad, because we really wanted to go out with a bang this time.”

Instead, the Aggies (5-4, 3-3 MEAC) went quietly. They dropped passes. They took bad penalties. They missed tackles and blocks.

Bottom line? They missed a chance to win for the sixth time, which would’ve secured a winning record in head coach Alonzo Lee’s first season. Now they finish the season with road games against the MEAC’s best teams — Florida A&M (6-2, 4-1) and S.C. State (7-1, 5-0).

“We felt like we lost to an inferior team today, and that’s the biggest thing,” Fears said. “We definitely thought we were better than those guys. We still know we’re better than those guys. But, like always when we lose, we didn’t capitalize or execute on offense.”

Fears finished 16-of-31 passing for 164 yards with two interceptions — the first 8 yards short of the end zone and the second returned 28 yards for the touchdown that put B-C ahead 31-7.

A&T finished with just 34 rushing yards on 19 carries and was 3-for-11 on third-down.

“We never got into a rhythm,” Fears said. “Bethune-Cookman’s offense, they run the ball so much and eat up a lot of clock. So every opportunity you get to be on the field you can’t have three-and-outs. ... When you have dropped balls like that, you get three-and-outs. And that hurts you.”

A&T’s lone highlight came on special teams.

Trailing 7-0 late in the second quarter, the defense forced a punt and B-C’s Kory Kowalski hit a beauty.

The Wildcats’ Nesly Marcellon raced down the field and made an athletic play to swat the bouncing ball back away from the goal line, preventing it from going into the end zone for a touchback.

But Marcellon’s teammates quit on the play, and no one downed the ball. While the Wildcats stood around, A&T’s Quay Long drifted in behind the play, picked the ball off the turf and sprinted down the sideline 96 yards for the longest punt return in A&T’s history.

The momentum stopped there. B-C scored 24 straight points in the second half.

The Wildcats got the ball first and drove for a touchdown nullified by a penalty. They settled for a 31-yard field goal. After A&T kicker Wallace Miles missed from 42 yards, B-C responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive that spilled into the fourth quarter.

“In the third quarter, we only had one possession,” Fears said. “I looked up at the clock and thought, 'Man, the quarter’s over already.’ It’s hard sitting there waiting to get back on the field.”

A roughing-the-passer penalty against A&T kept the Wildcats’ key drive alive, and Aggies cornerback D’Vonte Graham had a rough series. Graham narrowly missed an interception in the flat that would’ve been a sure touchdown, and he narrowly missed getting a hand on the pitch to B-C running back Fred McCaskill that turned into a 27-yard touchdown run.

B-C’s next drive ended with quarterback Mo Francois’ 28-yard touchdown run that sent fans streaming to the exits with 9:53 left.

Few were still around when A&T’s Mike Mayhew scored on a 2-yard run on the game’s final play.

Instead, they were outside in the tent city, enjoying the carnival atmosphere of homecoming.

Inside, all was quiet and still.

NOTES: Fears made his eighth consecutive start. If he starts the last two games, he will become the first Aggies quarterback to start every game in a single season since Maseo Bolin in 1995. ... A&T’s last victory over Bethune-Cookman at Aggie Stadium was 30-19 in 2000. ... The Aggies are in 4-4 in homecoming games against Bethune. ... A&T senior free safety Nick Clement, who broke a finger against Howard, was fitted with a cast and played in his 42nd consecutive game. ... As part of breast-cancer awareness month, the officials used pink penalty flags.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

Bethune-Cookman 7 0 3 21 — 31
N.C. A&T 0 7 0 6 — 13

B-C—Keith 5 run (Kowalski kick), 8:54.
NCAT—Long 96 punt return (Miles kick), 5:17.
B-C—FG Kowalski 31, 9:45.
B-C—McCaskill 27 run (Kowalski kick), 14:05.
B-C—Francois 28 run (Kowalski kick), 9:53.
B-C—Lewis 28 interception return (Kowalski kick), 1:15.
NCAT—Mayhew 1 run, :00.
A—21,500.

TEAM STATISTICS
First downs — B-C 20, NCAT 13
Rushes-yards — B-C 54-227, NCAT 19-34
Passing — B-C 130, NCAT 164
Comp-Att-Int — B-C 7-10-0, NCAT 16-31-2
Return Yards — B-C 72, NCAT 96
Punts-Avg. — B-C 6-33.8, NCAT 6-35.8
Fumbles-Lost — B-C 4-0, NCAT 0-0
Penalties-Yards — B-C 15-146, NCAT 8-70
Time of Possession — B-C 37:14, NCAT 22:46

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
Bethune-Cookman — Francois 26-73, McCaskill 7-69, Moment 6-42, M.Johnson 8-27, Lovette 2-10, Keith 4-7, Team 1-(minus 1).
N.C. A&T — Payne 8-25, Mayhew 7-5, Raper 1-2, Fears 3-2.

PASSING
Bethune-Cookman — Francois 5-7-0-85, M.Johnson 2-3-0-45.
N.C. A&T — Fears 16-31-2-164.

RECEIVING
Bethune-Cookman — Keith 2-54, McCaskill 2-26, Green 1-29, McCleod 1-16, Lewis 1-5.
N.C. A&T — Miles 4-30, Cooper 4-27, Mayhew 2-34, Lowrance 2-25, Whitaker 2-25, Raper 2-23.