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LOS ANGELES, September 8, 2007 – Los Angeles is a city where you must make the best of your opportunities if you want to make it big in show business. On Saturday afternoon in the Angel City Football Classic at the L.A. Coliseum, Prairie View seized its opportunities and scored. Unfortunately, North Carolina A&T did not.

Prairie View A&M’s Riante Jones blocked two Lee Woodson punts and Val Ford returned both of them for touchdowns to lead the Panthers to a 22-7 win over the Aggies. Jones would go on to block an Aggies field goal and Ford tackled Aggies running back David “Speedy” Robinson in his own end zone for a safety as the duo accounted for 16 of the Panthers 22 points.

Junior running back Michael Ferguson led the Aggies with a career-high 181 yards on 22 carries.

“Obviously we didn’t play well in the kicking game, especially on the punt protection,’’ said N.C. A&T head coach Lee Fobbs. “Obviously those two blocked punts had a big impact on the ball game. If you give up two big scores like that then it’s hard to overcome them.”

Blocked punts were not the only thing the Aggies were trying to overcome Saturday. They played the entire second half without starting quarterback Herb Miller, who went down with a knee injury. The Aggies also had to play without running back Demerick Chancellor who hurt his shoulder.

Despite the injury set backs, opportunities presented themselves. On their first drive of the game, the Aggies drove inside the Panthers 10-yard line. But freshman kicker Eric Houston’s 26-yard field goal attempt hooked wide left.

Two series later, the Aggies put together a 12-play, 57-yard drive. They had the ball first-and-goal at the Panthers 6 before a holding penalty and a nine-yard loss moved them back to the Panthers 25. Ferguson was able to move the ball back inside the 10 with a 16-yard run. But Houston had his field goal attempt blocked by Jones to keep the Aggies off the board.

“We came out and the offense was moving the ball,’’ said Ferguson. “We were doing what we wanted to do. We got in the red zone, but when we got there we made mistakes. We have to capitalize in the red zone and not fumble or have penalties.”

The Panthers put the first points on the board as Jones broke free up the middle on an Aggies punt for a block that rolled up into the hands of Ford for a Panthers touchdown with 14:36 remaining in the first half. Twelve minutes later, Jones found his way through the Aggie line again, blocked Woodson’s punt up in the air, which landed Ford’s again for a Panthers touchdown and a 13-0 halftime lead.

The Panthers went up 20-0 on a 9-yard run by quarterback Chris Gibson, who led the Panthers offensively with 76 yards rushing on 10 carries and 145 yards passing on a 16-for-28 throwing performance. It was the only offensive touchdown the Aggies surrendered. In fact, the Aggies held the Panthers to 278 yards total offense, a defensive best in the Fobbs era.

“It’s the second week in a row we’ve played inspired defense,’’ said Fobbs. We’ve got to continue to play like that.”

It was also the second week in a row, the Aggies defense set up an Aggies score. Panthers running back Calvin Harris ran into the middle of the Aggies defense line and had the ball pop loose with 7:38 remaining in the game. Brandon Croley recovered and three plays later Miller’s replacement Shelton Morgan had his first career touchdown pass with a 32-yard toss to Giorgio Lowrance. It was Lowrance’s first career touchdown reception.

The score pulled the Aggies to within two touchdowns at 20-7. But a safety on the Aggies next possession and a Ferguson fumble after a 36-yard run all but sealed the win for the Panthers.

“We were in the red zone a few times,’’ said Fobbs. “We moved the ball in several situations and had opportunities to score, but wasn’t able to capitalize on that. That pretty much reflects the outcome of the ball game. We turned the ball over a couple times, and they were able to make stops and crucial moments and keep us out of the end zone.”

The Aggies come home to play in their home opener against Hampton 6 p.m., Saturday. The game will be shown on ESPNU (tape delayed) at 10 p.m., on Saturday.