Maxell
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Post by Maxell on Oct 7, 2007 13:08:24 GMT -5
So what was Ray thinking?
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Post by aggiejazz on Oct 7, 2007 13:34:03 GMT -5
Bears hold off North Carolina A&T in frantic finish, 22-17 By Oct 6, 2007
Chad Simpson rushed for 181 yards on 33 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead the Bears to a 22-17 victory Saturday night over North Carolina A&T in front of 8,923 fans at Hughes Stadium.
Morgan State (3-3, 2-1 MEAC) overcame some potentially ruinous mistakes and Simpson broke off a 46-yard TD dash with 4:38 remaining to hand the Aggies its sixth loss of the season, and extended its losing streak to 22 games.
“Good teams find a way to win, and they proved today that they are a good team,” said MSU head coach Donald Hill-Eley. “Very easily when you have to go 85 yards to score, and they drove down and made a play. That’s the thing that I’m proud of.”
The Bears employed two quarterbacks against the Aggies as they started with senior Byron Selby and alternated with junior Mario Melton.
Selby, who started for the second time this season, completed 4-of-7 passes for 34 yards, while Melton connected on 9-of-16 passes for 96 yards, including an interception on his first pass attempt late in the first quarter.
The Aggies (0-6, 0-3 MEAC) were unable to capitalize on Melton’s mistake and ended up turning the ball over themselves when senior Bryan Wilson sacked Aggie quarterback Shelton Morgan and caused him to fumble the ball at mid-field.
The Bears, FCS 3rd ranked defense, finished with a season-high eight sacks and held the Aggies to 0-for-10 in third-down conversions.
The Bears marched down to the Aggies 23 yard line before junior James Meade’s 40 yard field goal attempt sailed wide right with 14:56 left in the 2nd quarter.
The Bears defense pounced on its second fumble of the game when Aggie running back David Robinson coughed the ball up and defensive lineman Justin Lawrence pounced on it at the Aggies 16. The Bears came away with the first points of the game when Meade stepped up and connected on a 33-yard field goal to give MSU a 3-0 lead with 8:13 remaining.
A&T answered on the ensuing drive as a result of a steady dose of running back Michael Ferguson. Ferguson, the MEAC’s 3rd leading rusher, ran through the middle of the Bears’ stingy defense for a 66-yard bolt to help setup the Aggies on the Morgan 2. On 1st and goal from the 2, Ferguson took the handoff to paydirt. The extra point by Eric Houston gave the Aggies its first lead of the game at 7-3 with 6:59 left in the half.
Ferguson completed the game with 15 carries for 160 yards, while the Aggies offense finished with 334 total yards. MSU finished with a season-high 453 yards, 323 on the ground.
Melton and Simpson led the Bears down to the Aggies’ 10 yard line before being forced to settle for its second field goal of the contest when Meade booted in a 27-yarder to cut the lead to 7-6 at the 3:09 mark.
The Aggies were on the move in the final minutes as the Aggie quarterback Herb Miller connected on passes of 24, 11 and 14 to move the ball into Bears territory. But once again the Bears defense stiffened. On 1st and 10 from the Bears 38, Miller dropped back to pass and fumbled the ball after being sacked by linebacker Lamar West. MSU defensive lineman Anthony Young recovered the ball at the 43 with 59 seconds remaining.
The Bears lit up the scoreboard just before halftime as Melton rushed for 42 yards on three carries to help set up a 2-yard TD run by Simpson with 47 seconds left.
A&T’s Morgan hit Curtis Walls for a 25 yard pickup and David Robinson on a 22-yard screen pass to setup a 33-yard field goal by Eric Houston to cut the Bears lead to 13-10 at the intermission.
MSU had an opportunity to blow the game open in the 3rd quarter, however costly miscues kept the ballgame tight. Simpson turned the ball over on the Aggies 36 yard line midway through the 3rd quarter, and had a long drive shutdown when Melton had a 10-yard run ended abruptly when Aggie defensive end Antonio Johnson knocked the ball out his hand from behind, and the Aggies recovered the fumble at the 4.
On the ensuing possession, Morgan dropped back and threw a bomb to Michael Caldwell for a 96-yard touchdown, the longest touchdown play in A&T history. Morgan trailed 17-13 with 14:10 left to go in the game.
Minutes after A&T took the lead, Morgan drove to the Aggies 8 yard line and Selby threw an apparent touchdown pass to Justin Lawrence. However, the play was called back as a result of an illegal forward pass. Consequently, Meade entered the game and connected on his third field goal of the night. The 36-yarder pulled the Bears to within a point, trailing 17-16 with 8:09 remaining.
© Copyright 2007 meacsports.com
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