Courtesy of NC A&T Athletics
GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T (NCAT) football team had its positive moments on Senior Day, including a 99-yard touchdown drive and a 97-yard kickoff return, but those sparks were not enough to overcome the five fumbles forced by the Elon Phoenix in the 31-21 season finale loss at Truist Stadium on Saturday.
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The defeat marked the second consecutive season in which the Aggies won just a single game. Second-year head coach Vincent Brown is still searching for his first conference win since taking over the A&T program. After Saturday’s game, he said there is little margin for error in the ultra-competitive conference and acknowledged that the Aggies are still missing a few key pieces. He challenged the younger players on the team to remember what the disappointment of this season felt like as they go forward in their careers.
“I (told them) not to forget what this season looks like, what it feels like, and how we got here – that it should leave a very bad taste in all of our mouths if football is really important to you,” Brown said. “I told them I love them, I appreciate everything and all of their efforts from this season, that they fought to the very end. There’s not one game, even the one that got out of hand (William & Mary), in which they laid down.”
NCAT allowed their opponent to score first nine times this season, but they seemed to have a solid start after the defensive unit forced a three-and-out on the opening drive and the offense, led by graduate quarterback Justin Fomby, marched the ball down to the 37-yard line. However, A&T opted to punt on 4th-and-5.
Freshman DJ Page’s punt landed in the end zone, giving the Phoenix a 1st-and-10 from its 20. Elon then went 80 yards in six plays, ending with a 30-yard touchdown reception from quarterback wide receiver Jamarien Dalton.
A couple of drives later, the Aggies scored the equalizer after starting from the one-yard line. On 3rd-and-9 from their own two, Fomby hit Cameren Dalrymple with a short pass that turned into a 35-yard gain down the left sideline. A personal foul on Elon that occurred shortly after the tackle advanced the ball into Elon territory.
Despite the crucial penalty, three plays later, forced an A&T punt. Luckily for NCAT, Elon ran into Page on the punt, keeping the drive alive at the Elon 39. That’s when sophomore running back Shimique Blizzard broke away down the right side for a 39-yard touchdown, and the extra point tied the game 7-7.
Blizzard finished the day with 97 yards on 18 carries, his second-highest total of 2024. The Aggies could not get much going at all for the remainder of the second and third quarters, however, as Elon scored 24 unanswered points. The Phoenix were propelled by a monster performance from receiver Chandler Brayboy, who hauled in 12 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown.
He was the preferred target of quarterback Matthew Downing, who threw for two scores and ran in another en route to taking a 31-7 lead late in the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Brayboy. Downing also completed 16 of his 21 pass attempts for 203 yards.
Brayboy’s score was followed promptly by a 97-yard kickoff return from freshman Cortez Lane that cut the lead to 18 points after a missed two-point conversion. The Phoenix missed two late-game field goals, the latter of which A&T’s Aaron Harris blocked on his Senior Day.
A thunderous 33-yard catch and run from senior tight end Nicholas Dobson, playing his final game at Truist Stadium, set up a two-yard touchdown run from freshman Daniel Coles and a successful two-point conversion pass to Ger-Cari Caldwell with a minute to play to cut Elon’s lead to 10.
But NCAT ultimately ran out of time. Elon recovered the subsequent onside to secure the victory partly thanks to three lost A&T fumbles, two occurring in the second half. Fomby ended with a modest stat line of 190 yards for a touchdown and no interceptions. Dobson was the team’s leading receiver with four catches for 49 yards, and Lane followed him with three catches for 29 yards.
Freshman inside linebacker Jayden Williams led the team with eight tackles, and he partnered with senior defensive end Henry Daniel on a sack in the second quarter. Daniel tallied seven tackles, 3 1/2 for loss, and added another solo sack for his final NCAT game at Truist.
“The priority is recruiting,” Brown said. “We’ll be doing our postseason exit meetings beginning Monday. We have holidays coming up, but then we’ll be recruiting. We’re on the road trying to find the next crop of Aggies that can come in and help us win games.”