RAMS EDGE AGGIES IN BATTLE OF I-40

CIAA Football Week in Review
For the week ending September 4, 2010, (Week 2)

RAMS EDGE AGGIES IN BATTLE OF I-40

GREENSBORO, NC- In a game billed as the Battle of I-40 Classic, quarterback Kameron Smith’s 7-yard touchdown run with :41 seconds left in the game proved to be the difference as Winston-Salem State rallied from a fourth quarter deficit to knock off longstanding state rival North Carolina A&T, 21-14 in front of a crowd of over 21,000 last night in Greensboro.
 
After their first two possessions of the game resulted in a punt and a missed field goal, North Carolina A&T of the FCS Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, put together their first sustained drive of the game. The Aggies (0-1) capped a 12-play, 56-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run by Mike Mayhew to take a 7-0 lead with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter.
 
Winston-Salem State (2-0), who put up 27 points in the first half of last week’s win over Virginia Union, found the sledding a lot tougher this week against the Division I Aggies, as they were forced to punt or fumbled away four of their five 1st half possessions. The Rams did not get on the scoreboard until about midway through the second quarter when Landon Thayer nailed a 22-yard field goal and trailed 7-3 at the half.
 
Needing an offensive spark after their first two drives of the third quarter resulted in interceptions by starting quarterback Octavious Hawkins, the Rams turned to Smith on their next possession. The sophomore transfer from the Naval Academy responded by engineering a four-play, 44-yard drive that ended with him connecting with Patrick Terry on a 20-yard touchdown pass to give the Rams a 10-7 lead with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter.
 
Winston-Salem State would add to their lead early in the fourth quarter when Thayer connected on his second field goal of the night, a 41-yarder, to extend the Rams’ lead to 13-7. The lead would be short lived as the Aggies’ Justin Ferrell took the ensuing kickoff and raced 76-yards for a touchdown to put A&T back in front 14-13 with 10:28 left in the game.
After their next two drives ended in a punt and fumble, the Rams got the ball back for one final possession with 3:12 left in the game. Trailing by one point and with the ball at their own 22-yard line, Smith engineered an 8-play drive, where he accounted for 65 (52 yards rushing, 13 yards passing) of the Rams’ 78 yards and put the Rams ahead 19-14 on his seven-yard touchdown run. He then connected with running back Tyrone Goldston on a pass for the two-point conversion as WSSU took a 21-14 lead with less than a minute remaining and held on to shock the Aggies on their home field. Next week the Rams will face another FCS opponent when they travel to Durham to take on North Carolina Central.

Conference Scoreboard

September’s Upcoming Games: