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Your black college football national champions are, once again, the North Carolina A&T Aggies. The Aggies won their third Celebration Bowl since the game began in 2015, beating Alcorn State 24-22 on Saturday in Atlanta. They stay head and shoulders above their peers in the HBCU football world.
A huge 77-yard kickoff return TD near the end of the third quarter was what the Aggies needed to win the game in the end.
⚡️⚡️⚡️ WILSON KICKS IT INTO TURBO!@NCATAGGIES WR Malik Wilson runs back his 4th kickoff of the year, breaking a school record! @MEACSports @FOOTBALL_NCAT @ncatsuaggies pic.twitter.com/YYfZrLDXfY
— Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl (@CelebrationBowl) December 15, 2018
Those were the only points they scored in the second half. Alcorn mounted a pretty decent attempt at a comeback, and actually controlled the middle portion of the game. But the Braves couldn’t convert a two-point conversion to tie the game and couldn’t find the end zone again.
This NC A&T seniors have pulled off something special.
You know about Tarik Cohen, current Bears standout running back who came out of A&T in the 2017 draft. But the Aggies have kept on rolling in his absence.
This senior class of 21 players has gone 41-7 in their careers. That’s three conference championships in total, and three Celebration Bowls to boot. The last two HBCU titles came back to back, and A&T has only lost two games in total the last two seasons (both this year).
At the core of this unit is quarterback Lamar Raynard, the Celebration Bowl offensive MVP. He’s 35-2 as a starting quarterback and did what he had to do against Alcorn State. He was 18-of-30 for 292 yards and two touchdowns in this win.
These last two Celebration Bowl wins have come in different ways. Last year, the offense won a deadlocked game with a trick play in the final minute of the game. This year, the Aggies leaned on the other two phases of the game to pull it out with a first-year head coach, Sam Washington. The defense did just enough and the special teams came up big.
What A&T can do as an encore next season will be a big subplot.
Rod Broadway restored the program as an FCS power. Washington kept the train going. Now it’s on him to build on this success as NC A&T heads into a new era without players who have had so much success.