After the Aggies’ 42-17 homecoming win over Florida A&M Saturday afternoon at Aggie Stadium, there were so many sentimental statements uttered by North Carolina A&T Head Football Coach Rod Broadway about the 17 seniors who have had such an impact on turning around a dormant program, Broadway had to remind himself and those around him of something important.
Yet over Broadway’s first two seasons, the Aggies still managed to go 12-10. Now they’re chasing their third straight MEAC title, their second straight black college football national championship and they are still in contention for a second straight Celebration Bowl appearance.
“Wait a minute, they’re not done yet. We still have some games to play,” Broadway said.
But after the 11th-ranked Aggies (7-1, 5-0 MEAC) won their sixth straight homecoming, it was hard not to get a little choked up. The Aggies were in the midst of a seven-game homecoming losing streak when Broadway arrived in 2011. They had no recruiting class in 2011 and signed only seven in 2012 because of reduction in scholarships due to a low graduation rate that occurred prior to Broadway’s tenure.
“Man, you’ll get me crying in here,” said Broadway talking about the journey he and his players have taken. “I am going to say it again; these guys are special. This is really the first class we had. You see what scholarships do for you. It gives you an opportunity to get some players.”
Those players, some of them seniors now, certainly meant a lot to the Aggies on Saturday as well. Senior All-American Tarik Cohen, a NCAA FCS Player of the Year candidate, had 145 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries. It marked the eighth time in his career he has had a three-touchdown game, and it was his third such game this season. Cohen added 65 yards receiving to his totals.
But the Rattlers (3-6, 3-3 MEAC) were not willing to concede anything to the No. 1 team in black college football. The Rattlers took a 10-7 lead over the Aggies with 9:21 remaining in the second quarter thanks to a 20-yard field goal by Colby Blanton. By the end of the second half, however, the Aggies had regained control of the game.
Cohen started the shift in momentum with one of his signature change of direction runs where he started left and reversed field to the right. After coming back right it looked like he was going to be forced out of bounds at the FAMU 5-yard line, so he leaped and extended his body toward the pylon for a spectacular 19-yard touchdown run. Bell followed with his touchdown grab to give the Aggies a 21-10 halftime lead.
When N.C. A&T was done answering FAMU’s second-quarter field goal, they had rattled off 35 unanswered points with the addition of a 1-yard run from Marquell Cartwright, an 83-yard run from Cohen and a 20-yard run from Demetrius Fairley.
The Rattlers were led by receiver Montavious Williams who had eight receptions for 98 yards. The Aggies outrushed the Rattlers 313-77 and compiled 543 yards of offense.
“Let me say this too, we won five games my first year with our hands tied behind our backs,” said Broadway. “We didn’t have spring practice, we didn’t have our full practice time and only had 29 scholarships. When I think back, I am proud of those kids. They fought through it and helped us get this thing going in the right direction. They deserve a lot of credit. They set the stage on how we wanted to go about doing things, and I am proud of them.”
