Lyndon Bass
After two consecutive — and impressive wins – the Eagles will face off with the Morgan State Bears at home in O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Eagles are now standing at a record of 3-3(2-1) in the conference and are gaining confidence going into each week winning consecutive games for the first time so far this season. While the Morgan State Bears 3-3(3-1) in the conference.
Last week Eagles fought through a 22 point deficit to spoil Savannah State Tiger’s homecoming game.
This victory was on the heels of an impressive road victory against Florida A&M University 27-24, Oct. 17.
The Eagles came out to a slow start against Savannah State and were down 22-0 at the end of the first quarter. This was the largest deficit the Eagles have seen in any first quarter this season.
From there the Eagles scored an astonishing 39 unanswered points in the remainder of the game to top the Tigers in the entire game to give the Eagles a victory of a final score of 39-22, spoiling the Tigers homecoming game.
Freshman kicker Nigel Macauley scored 13 points with four extra-point field goals and three field goals between the ranges of 30-35 yards. Macauley is currently the leading scorer in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in field goals.
Quarterback Malcolm Bell carried the team going 9 for 25 in completions with 116 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. Bell also contributed with 92 yards rushing and one touchdown running the ball.
“Although we were down 22-0, we never put our heads down and knew that at the moment things weren’t going our way but we would bounce back,” Bell said.
“We started to execute and play our brand of football. The whole entire team made a commitment to winning the game and keeping our championship hopes alive.”
Ryan Smith was back in action for the second game since his knee injury and he gave the defense a boost with 6 tackles for the game.
“The coaches never had a doubt that we wouldn’t come back in that game,” Smith said.
“We weren’t playing to our full potential in that first quarter. They just continued to push us and reminded us of what we had on the line.”
“We prepare for the every team the same way,” Smith said. “Nothing really changes as far as preparation. We knew what we needed to do and how we needed to do it in order to be victorious.
The Eagles are now standing at a record of 3-3(2-1) in the conference and are gaining confidence going into each week winning consecutive games for the first time so far this season
“Our confidence is high going into this week’s game after two straight wins,” Bell said. “Being 1-0 every week and keeping our eyes on the celebration bowl and MEAC championship is still our goal.”
Bell also said, “to the fans of NCCU, please come out and support us this weekend against Morgan State. This game is very important in our journey to the MEAC Championship.”
