title image via Doug Burt
Courtesy of North Carolina Central Athletics
7
MSU
16
Winner NCC
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| NCC | 0 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
The North Carolina Central University football team celebrated Homecoming with a 16-7 victory over Morgan State on Saturday at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium, holding the Bears to just over 200 yards of total offense.
The No. 20/21 Eagles (6-2, 2-0 MEAC) have won five straight games.
The Eagles got on the board first when quarterback Walker Harris connected with Markell Quick on a deep pass up the middle for a 49-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. That play, at the 7:06 mark of the second quarter, capped a 4-play, 76-yard drive.
That score held at the half.
Midway through the third quarter, after the Eagles went 52 yards on eight plays, Kaleb Robison made his first career field goal from 21 yards to grow the lead to 10-0.
Morgan State made it a one-possession game with 9:58mark of the fourth quarter, taking advantage of a rare Harris interception when Jason Collins, Jr. capped an 8-play, 34-yard drive with a 2-yard score to trim the Eagles’ lead to 10-7.
The Eagles answered on the ensuing drive. On the sixth play of a drive that started on N.C. Central’s own 27-yard line, J’Mari Taylor kept his touchdown streak alive with a 50-yard run to the end zone. With 6:37 to play, the Eagles led 16-7.
The Bears (3-4, 0-1) had one more chance, but Thomas Jackson sacked quarterback Tahj Smith on 4th-and-10 with 4:24 remaining to end the drive and give the ball back to the Eagles.
Morgan State never touched the ball again, and the Eagles ran out the clock.
N.C. Central will hit the road this coming Thursday, heading to Orangeburg, S.C., to take on South Carolina State. The game will air live on ESPNU at 7:30 p.m.
With the Win…
- The Eagles have won five in a row and have not lost a game in the month of October.
- The Eagles are one win shy of tying their longest win streak of last season (six games).
- NCCU has won its last seven games against the Bears since 2015.
- N.C. Central is now 65-22-2 in Homecoming games, and 2-3 against Morgan State in those contests.
- Head coach Trei Oliver is 3-1 in Homecoming games.
- Oliver is now 17-6 in home games (16-8 MEAC).
Game Notes
- For just the second time this season, the Eagles were held scoreless in the opening quarter.
- Running back J’Mari Taylor kept his streak of at least one rushing touchdown per game this season alive with his 50-yard score in the fourth quarter.
- Taylor ran for a career-high 196 yards on 26 carries, averaging 7.5 yards per rush.
- Taylor now has three 100-yard rushing games on the season.
- Quarterback Walker Harris completed 18 of 31 passes for 219 yards and a score.
- This was Harris’ fifth straight game with at least one touchdown pass.
- Defensive lineman Thomas Johnson recorded his first career multi-sack game, with 2.5.
- Linebacker Jaki Brevard led the Eagles’ defense with a career-high 12 tackles.
- The Eagles held the Bears to just 204 total yards, 102 each on the ground and through the air.
- Saturday’s game marked the fourth in a row where the Eagles held their opponent under 300 total yards.
