North Carolina A&T wins Celebration Bowl capturing back-to-back HBCU National Championships
North Carolina A&T State University wins Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl defeating Alcorn State 24-22 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia December 15, 2018. The Aggies have captured 3 out of 4 Celebration Bowls and HBCU national championships.
Photo By James P. Hill
By James P. Hill
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ATLANTA – North Carolina A&T (10-2) defeats Alcorn State (9-4) by a final score of 24–22 to win back to back Celebration Bowls and their third Historically Black Colleges and Universities national football Championship in the past four years. First year Aggies head coach Sam Washington continues to cement the latest chapter in this dynasty era of NCAT football.
“I thought the first half was pretty solid, I thought we played well on both sides of the ball and we punted the ball well,” Sam Washington said. “We were able to keep them out of the end zone on the defense and we were able to score points on defense.
First drive of the game NCAT senior quarterback Lamar Raynard passes the bacon to Zachary Leslie for a 17 yard touchdown! Aggies lead 7-0. Lamar Raynard completed 18 of 30 passes, had 1 interception, 292 yards, and 2 touchdowns.
“Alcorn has a great team; it’s a great defense and offense. They got momentum and they had a couple stops but we just had to fight,” Raynard said. “I told my guys on the sidelines something good happens when you play and something bad happens when you play.”
Aggies junior wide receiver Elijah Bell scored on a 27 yard pass from Lamar Raynard to help give NCAT a big lead of 17-2 in the second quarter. With confetti raining down in the Mercedes Benz Stadium air Bell was proud of his senior class.
“Man, it feels good we had a lot of adversity this year, a lot of people didn’t think we should be here. It’s just good to come out and prove that were still the best team in Black College football,” Elijah Bell said. “I’m just impressed with everybody out there and I’m just thankful we came out on top.”
Alcorn State’s quarterback Noah Johnson completed 11 of 27 passes, tallied 1 interception, and 128 yards. Johnson had 14 carries for 120 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Johnson scored in the third quarter on a 30 yard run, and late in the fourth quarter on another 59 yard run. The Alcorn 2 point conversion attempt was ruled incomplete and the scoreboard finalized Aggies 24 Braves 22.
“If we didn’t stop them on that drive there and we only had a 2 point lead then we was in for a tough situation,” Sam Washington said.
“It was a good win for the seniors.” Elijah Bell said. The NCAT 2018 senior class won 41 games, three MEAC titles, 3 Celebration Bowl wins and 3 HBCU national championships.
Redshirt senior quarterback Lamar Raynard ends a storybook career in the MEAC at NCAT by earning the highly coveted offensive MVP of the 2018 Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl. Raynard describes the determination, grit, and grind his Aggies showcased in Atlanta on a cold December afternoon.
“As a team we’re warriors on North Carolina A&T and we did a great job and I’m going to shout out the defense too because they did very well.”
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ncat wins celebration bowl and back-to-back hbcu national championships
LaMAR RAYNARD 18/30, 292 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT VS ALCORN STATE
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