news-record.com

GREENSBORO — A good defense can make up for a lot of deficiencies. And, most importantly, it can win football games.

N.C. A&T's defense held Bethune-Cookman to 5 yards on the ground and 108 yards of total offense, leading the Aggies to a 22-3 win over the Wildcats before a crowd of 10,352 at Aggie Stadium.

"Our No. 1 goal every week is to stop the run," A&T coach Rod Broadway said. "We were able to do that. We ganged up on them. If we can get you one-dimensional and throwing the ball, we think we'll have a pretty good chance of winning."

The defense had forced seven turnovers in the Aggies' first four games and came up with four more turnovers against a Bethune-Cookman offense that had more total yards than Miami in the Wildcats' loss to the Hurricanes a week earlier.

"We thought we could play with these guys," Broadway said. "I think we had four turnovers on four plays. We gave them one and then we took it right back. We gave them one and then we took it right back. That was huge. The kids came out ready to play today. That was probably the most physical game we have played all year."

Despite two interceptions and costly penalties, the Aggies (3-2, 2-0 MEAC) were efficient on offense. They possessed the ball for more than 40 minutes and had 20 first downs. More importantly, A&T was 4-for-4 in the red zone, with two touchdowns and two field goals. Running backs Mike Mayhew and Dominique Drake led the way as the Aggies ground out 210 yards on the ground. Mayhew finished with 117 yards on 29 carries, while Drake had 93 yards on 19 rushes.

"We knew they were fast, but they're not too physical, so we just tried all week in practice to run the ball downhill. We tried to punch them in the mouth," Mayhew said. "It's just amazing that we came out of this struggle finally and got this win."

Leading 12-3 at halftime, the Aggies added a field goal in the third quarter and controlled the tempo by running almost twice as many plays as the Wildcats. The defense forced a turnover on downs early in third quarter, then did the same early in the fourth after a long Bethune drive.

"I think we were about last or sixth or seventh in turnover margin (in the MEAC) and Coach (Sam) Washington, the defensive coordinator told us we've got to pick that number up to give the offense more opportunities," said cornerback Justin Farrell. "We've got to be the backbone and pick up where they left off and get them the ball back."

After forcing their final turnover of the game, the Aggies added a touchdown mid way through the fourth quarter. Mayhew put his head down, ran over a couple of defenders and carried a couple more as he stretched for the goal line on a 9-yard TD.

Aggies quarterback Lewis Kindle completed 12 of 19 passes for 199 yards and a score. He did throw two interceptions.

"A&T and Coach Broadway lined up and they kicked our tail, and it shows in the stats and it showed on the field," said Bethune-Cookman coach Brian Jenkins. "You saw an A&T team that was more hungry. They were better prepared for this game than we were. You've got to give A&T some credit. A&T didn't fold."

Bethune-Cookman 3 0 0 0— 3
NC A&T 5 7 3 7—22

NCAT—Safety

B-C—FG Hurd 42

NCAT—FG Garcia 29

NCAT—Moore 7 pass from Kindle (Garcia kick)

NCAT—FG Garcia 24

NCAT—Mayhew 9 run (Garcia kick)

A—10,352.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs—Bethune-Cookman 5, N.C. A&T 20

Rushes-yards—Bethune-Cookman 25-5, N.C. A&T 50-211

Passing—Bethune-Cookman 103, N.C. A&T 119

Comp-Att-Int—Bethune-Cookman 12-22-1, N.C. A&T 12-19-2

Return Yards—Bethune-Cookman 33, N.C. A&T (-2)

Punts-Avg.—Bethune-Cookman 4-49.8, N.C. A&T 7-23.3

Fumbles-Lost—Bethune-Cookman 7-3, N.C. A&T 0-0

Penalties-Yards—Bethune-Cookman 15-112, N.C. A&T 17-104

Time of possession—Bethune-Cookman 19:19, N.C. A&T 40:41

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Bethune-Cookman—Scott 8-14, I.Jackson 3-12, Jordan 4-6, J.Wilson 5-6, Cleckley 1-2, Team 1-(minus 10), Robinson 3-(minus 25).

N.C. A&T—Mayhew 29-117, Drake 19-93, Kindle 2-1.

PASSING

Bethune-Cookman—J.Wilson 10-16-0-96, Robinson 2-6-1-7.

N.C. A&T—Kindle 12-19-2-119.

RECEIVING

Bethune-Cookman—Francois 4-62, Poole 3-13, Scott 2-7, Gordon 1-12, Moment 1-5, Cleckley 1-4.

N.C. A&T—Miles 4-58, Mayhew 3-26, Moore 3-26, Raper 1-5, Drake 1-4.