Christopher AmadasunThe third time would not be the charm for the N.C Central Eagles as the Bethune Cookman Wildcats defeated the Eagles for the third straight season in a row with a 27-13 victory at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
The game was played on ESPN at the prime time slot on Thursday night with a 6 o’clock kickoff, and although fall break was a day away the NCCU Screaming Eagles were in the stands giving the Wildcat players all sorts of grief on the sideline.
The first quarter of play proved to be very uneventful as neither team scored, and were locked in a defensive battle. The Eagles defense although allowing 27 points held the Wildcats to under 250 total yards on the day.
Meanwhile in the Eagles themselves nearly reached 400 yards of offense that only accounted for 13 points on the night.The Eagles lack of touchdowns can be attributed to their ineffective red zone execution as the offense would become stagnant during every redzone trip.
NC Central freshman quarterback Davius Richards would end the day throwing for 250 yards, but only scoring one touchdown that came with only 2:26 left in the fourth quarter.
Running back Isaiah Totten couldn’t crack 100 rushing yards on the day which is the second time in two weeks as Totten was held under 50 rushing yards the prior week.
“Watch film and learn from all the negatives and positives so we can make adjustments,” said Totten after the team’s defeat.
Redshirt senior defensive lineman Darius Royster proved to be a ray of hope for the Eagles as he ended the night with 12 tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss.
N.C. Central football safety Stephen Stokes also was effective on the defensive side as he had six tackles, and two tackles for a loss.
The Bethune Cookman Wildcats moved to the top spot of the MEAC with their victory over the Eagles as they remain undefeated in conference play.
The Eagles will have an extra week to prepare for their next opponent the Delaware State Hornets (0-4 ,MEAC , 1-5 overall) who have yet to register a win in conference play this season. The game will be on October 26 at 2.p.m at O’Kelly Riddick Stadium.
