The Morgan State Bears hosted the North Carolina A&T State Aggies Saturday night at Hughes Stadium in their MEAC opener. The Bears entered this contest being held scoreless in three games and being outscored by their opponents 101-0.
The Bears were finally able to get on the scoreboard, but lost to A&T 49-17.
“The monkey is essentially off those guys back but the monkey is still there because we’re not scoring enough points to win,” said Bears head Coach Fred T. Farrier.
The Bears were able to reach the end zone early in the third quarter when quarterback Elijah Staley tossed the ball to receiver Brian Gentry down the right sideline for an 83-yard touchdown to make the score 35-7.
It looked like the Bears would pick up their first points of the season when they drove down the field in a two minute drill before the half. Instead, Staley saw his pass from A&T’s one yard line get picked off and returned the opposite way for a 100-yard touchdown as time expired in the first half.
A&T led 35-0 at the half.
The Aggies came out the gate swinging, on their second play of the game running back Marquell Cartwright went 72-yards for a touchdown. The Aggies would score on their next possession on a 15-yard toss from Lamar Raynard to receiver Elijah Bell.
The Bears’ defense did not have an answer for the Aggies offense. A&T’s quarterback Raynard threw for 169 yards and three touchdowns while Cartwright totaled 176 on the ground.
The Aggies racked up 514 total offensive yards.
The Bears offense showed flashes of life at times, but the lack of running game is still an issue as they posted a disappointing 40-yards total on the ground. Staley had another 300 yard game passing but continues to turn the ball over throwing three interceptions.
“There’s some things from that game we can build on. We gotta keep working at it, we gotta keep pushing forward. We gotta keep our kids in a positive mind set,” said Farrier.
In a note to add, at halftime, Morgan State honored the members of its 1967 undefeated team that went 8-0 and won its third consecutive Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship and extended the team’s winning streak to 26 games, which was the longest in college football at the time.
The Bears travel to South Carolina State Oct. 6. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.
