Atlanta GA – Lamar Raynards 292 passing yards and two TD’s through the air, helped lead the North Carolina A&T Aggies to a 24-22 win over Alcorn State in the 2018 Celebration Bowl on Saturday afternoon. The win for the Aggies earns them their 2nd straight HBCU National Title.
North Carolina A&T wasted no time getting into the end zone on their opening possession. Quarterback Lamar Raynard connected with Zachary Leslie for a 17 yard TD, to cap off a 5 play 65-yard drive.
Alcorn State wouldn’t get on the board until there was 2:52 left on the 1st quarter clock. After driving deep into the red zone, the Braves would settle for a 29-yard field goal from Corey McCullough.
Early on in the 2nd quarter, NC A&T defensive back Timadre Abram would intercept Alcorn State quarterback Noah Johnson. This put the Aggies in prime position with a 1st and 10 at the Braves 27 yard line. They would not be able to take full advantage of the turnover but were able to tack on a 36-yard field goal from Noel Ruiz to make it a 10-3 NC A&T lead.
Ahead of the end of the 1st half, Raynard would link up with Elijah Bell for a 27-yard TD connection to put the Aggies on top 17-3 with only 53 seconds left to play. Then Alcorn State would run 8 plays in those 53 seconds ahead of tacking on a 25 yard McCollough field goal as time expired.
NC A&T held a 17-6 halftime advantage on the scoreboard. They were also dominating the passing stat sheet, with 192 yards through the air, compared to just 99 for the Braves. Alcorn, however, dominated the ground game with 70 yards to just 5 by the Aggies.
In the second half, the Braves would get on the board first, with their first trip of the day to the endzone as Noah Johnson took it 30 yards to the house on a QB run. This would make it 17-13, with the Aggies still on top.
Shortly thereafter, the Braves would tack on a 29-yard field goal from McCullough to cut the deficit to just 1 point. Then on the ensuing kickoff, Malik Wilson took it 79 yards the other way for NC A&T to extend the Aggies lead at 24-16.
This sank the momentum that the Braves were making. However, the Braves were not ready to give up yet. In the lone score of the 4th quarter, Noah Johnson would get his wheels rolling again, this time to the tune of a 59 yard TD run to cut the deficit to 2 with only 11:55 left on the clock. This led Alcorn to go for two, however, they were unable to convert, leaving the Aggies on top 24-22.
North Carolina A&T would then dominate the time of possession for the rest of the game. Alcorn State’s offense saw the ball just one more time, for 1:44 of clock time. The Aggies would finish the game by picking up 3 first downs on their final drive as they ate the final 5:55 off the clock to claim back-to-back HBCU National Championships.
