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GREENSBORO — "Now this is how a homecoming game should be," said an N.C. A&T fan after the Aggies scored an early touchdown during their game against Delaware State.

That was one of four scores in the first half as A&T rolled to a 42-24 win over the Hornets. It was the first homecoming win for A&T at Aggie Stadium since 2003.

"I'm excited for our players, for them to have had an opportunity to taste some success, win the first homecoming they've won since they've been here and mostly for playing the way they are playing," said N.C. A&T coach Rod Broadway. "We still have a lot of work to do before we develop into the type of football team we are capable of having here. Like any win, it's a good win."

The Aggies improved to 4-2 on the season and, more importantly, 3-0 in the MEAC, and Broadway said his team is beginning to understand that success in one game doesn't always equal success in the next. A&T faces four consecutive conference road games starting with Howard next Saturday.

"Nobody thought we would win four games this year," Broadway said. "Our kids believed in themselves. Right now our focus is on Howard. Our guys have done a really excellent job of taking one game at a time and they say all the time 1-0. We're going to start all over and try to get to 1-0 next week."

The players know that they have an opportunity to continue the recent success, but it won't be easy.

"A lot of guys on the team, we're really just tired of losing," said quarterback Lewis Kindle. "As a team, it got to a point where we said losing is not OK and we want to win every week. That's why we work so hard in practice. We take every rep like it's a game rep and on Saturday I think you can see that. With the coaches that we have and the athletes we have, we've realized we can be something this year."

After A&T built a 28-3 halftime lead, the Hornets rallied in the third quarter with back-to-back touchdowns within three minutes of each other thanks to recovering an onside kick, as they cut the lead to 28-17.

But the Aggies all but put away the game with a quick scoring drive near the end of the third quarter. Kindle found wide-open Larry Raper down the right sideline and hit him in stride for a 27-yard touchdown pass, pushing the lead to 35-17. Raper finished with five receptions for 109 yards and three touchdowns

"It's always big when you jump on someone 28-0. They made a couple of turnovers and we played well there," Broadway said. "Then we made a couple of bonehead plays. But our guys responded the way they should have responded. We went down and scored again."

The Aggies rolled early. After forcing a punt on the Hornets' first possession, A&T used the running of Mike Mayhew and Dominique Drake to work down the field. A 24-yard diving catch by Miles Wallace set up the Aggies at the 1-yard line. After unsuccessful attempts by Kindle to push the pile over the goal line, Mayhew took a pitch left and scored easily, and the conversion made it 7-0.

"We focused a lot on that in practice, protecting the ball," said Kindle, who finished 13-of-20 passing for 173 yards and three touchdowns. "The more we keep the ball, the more our defense is off the field and that's a big thing with the numbers. We have a lot of guys on defense that play a lot of snaps, so the longer we can stay on the field, the better it is for the team."

On Delaware State's next possession, the Hornets' Justin Wilson bobbled a pass that was thrown behind him and Aggies linebacker D'Vonte Grant was right there to pick it off at the Delaware State 40. Grant returned the interception to the Hornets' 14-yard line, and three plays later Kindle found Raper for an 18-yard touchdown.

A&T scored again in the first quarter after Delaware State mishandled a punt and Tevin Williams recovered for the Aggies. Two plays later, Mayhew, who had 128 yards and three touchdowns, ran 19 yards as A&T took a 21-point lead.

The Aggies added to their lead with a long drive in the second quarter. A&T ran the ball right through the Hornets with Drake and Mayhew picking up 3 to 5 yards per carry, but A&T used a little trickery to get into scoring position.

On an end-around play, Kindle flipped the ball to former Dudley quarterback Ricky Lewis, who found Raper on a 20-yard pass play. Mayhew took the handoff on the next play through a huge hole up the middle for an 11-yard touchdown run and a 28-0 advantage.

Delaware State 0 3 14 7 — 24
N.C. A&T 21 7 7 7 — 42

A&T—Mayhew 1 run (Garcia kick)

A&T—Raper 18 pass from Kindle (Garcia kick)

A&T—Mayhew 19 run (Garcia kick)

A&T—Mayhew 11 run (Garcia kick)

DSU—FG Ward 25

DSU—Bailey 1 run (Ward kick)

DSU—Tarpley 42 pass from Elko (Ward kick)

A&T—Raper 27 pass from Kindle (Garcia kick)

A&T—Raper 9 pass from Kindle (Garcia kick)

DSU—J.Jones 1 run (Ward kick)

A—19,454

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs—Delaware State 18, N.C. A&T 23

Rushes-Yards—Delaware State 18-39, N.C. A&T 46-247

Passing—Delaware State 319, N.C. A&T 193

Comp-Att-Int—Delaware State 30-50-1, N.C. A&T 14-21-0

Return yards—Delaware State (-13), N.C. A&T 40

Punts-Avg.—Delaware State 6-42.8, N.C. A&T 4-41.3

Fumbles-Lost—Delaware State 1-1, N.C. A&T 0-0

Penalties-Yards—Delaware State 2-10, N.C. A&T 7-76

Time of possession—Delaware State 30:10, N.C. A&T 29:50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Delaware State—J.Jones 9-26, Bailey 2-15, Jackson 1-6, Tarpley 1-(-2), Elko 5-(-6).

N.C. A&T—Mayhew 24-128, Drake 10-54, Lewis 3-24, Burgess 3-14, Coles 2-11, Raper 1-9, Kindle 3-7.

PASSING

Delaware State—Elko 30-50-1-319.

N.C. A&T—Kindle 13-20-0-173, Lewis 1-1-0-20.

RECEIVING

Delaware State—Tarpley 9-121, J.Wilson 8-60, Jackson 5-50, Langdon 2-24, Ceravolo 2-22, Mi.Williams 2-8, J.Jones 1-24, Bashir 1-10.

N.C. A&T—Raper 5-109, Miles 3-50, Mayhew 3-7, Lewis 2-22, Moore 1-5.