Box Score
Hedgepeth records fumble recovery, intercepts a pass and makes four tackles
 

GREENSBORO, September 27, 2008 – During North Carolina A&T head football coach Lee Fobbs’ weekly press conference on Monday, there was a lengthy conversation about the intricacies of the Coastal Carolina zone offense.

Saturday night at Aggie Stadium, the Coastal Carolina defensive players made the conversation all about them. The Chanticleers held the Aggies to 146 yards of total offense, sacked Aggies quarterback Herb Miller seven times and intercepted two passes in a 20-7 win over N.C. A&T. For the Chanticleers (3-2) it was their third straight win, while the Aggies (2-3) lost their third straight.

Chanticleers quarterback William Richardson, who was starting in the place of Zach MacDowall, scored two touchdowns on the ground. N.C. A&T’s offense was also missing a key player. The Aggies played without star running back Michael Ferguson. Dione McNair had 71 yards on 23 carries in his place. Meanwhile, the Aggies defense did have its moments too.

They forced three Chanticleer turnovers. But no matter how much the Aggies defenders tried to help their offensive mates, the Chanticleer defense halted all N.C. A&T offensive efforts.

“We made some great interceptions,’’ said Fobbs. “But when you get opportunities to score you’ve got to put the ball in the end zone. That’s just the bottom line. Our defense played well at times. They gave us a chance to score at times. We were simply not able to sustain any drives. We didn’t get a total team effort.”

One of the Aggies scoring opportunities was ignited by a 20-yard punt return by Quintin Cosby in the third quarter that placed the ball on the Chanticleer 31-yard line.  A 24-yard run by Aggies redshirt junior quarterback Herb Miller gave the Aggies a 1^st-and-goal at the Chanticleer 8. The Aggies looked poised to cut into the Chanticleers’ 10-0 lead as a 3-yard run by McNair put the ball on the 1.

But on 3^rd-and-goal, McNair was stopped for no gain by Chase Howe. A quarterback sneak on the next play by Miller was also plugged up by the Coastal defensive line, giving the Chanticleers the football on downs. Fortunately for the Aggies, their defense did take advantage of field position.

On 2^nd-and-9 from the Chanticleer 2, Richardson saw his pass tipped in the air by Aggies defensive end Jarrell Herring. Aggies junior linebacker Jamison Hedgepeth saw the floating ball dropping to the ground and dove on it in the end zone for an Aggies touchdown that cut the Chanticleers lead to 10-7.

“As I was rushing the passer, I saw the ball tipped,’’ said Hedgepeth. “I just stopped in my tracks and went after the football.”

On the Chanticleers next drive, they drove the ball to the Aggies 7 before the Aggies defense stiffened. It set up a 22-yard field goal by Justin Durham to give the Chanticleers a 13-7 lead. Despite the score, the Aggies were still one big play away from taking the lead. It appeared they would get that opportunity to take the lead in the fourth quarter.

On a play that looked similar to the Hedgepeth, Herring took advantage of a tipped pass for an interception at the Aggies 45. The Aggies offense advanced the ball to the Coastal 33. But a penalty and a 9-yard loss on a pass reception by Michael Christen killed the drive. The Chanticleers took advantage by putting together a 7-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off by a Richardson 22-yard touchdown that gave Coastal 13-point lead with 5:22 remaining in the game.

“Defensively, we missed too many tackles,’’ said Hedgepeth. “We can’t put this on anyone else but our defense. If they don’t score we win the game. It leaves a bitter taste in our mouths.”

The Aggies face arch-rival N.C. Central 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4 at Charlotte’s Memorial Stadium.

“If there is a positive about all this, we’re pretty much going to see the same offense next week,’’ said Fobbs. “We’re going to see them same spread/zone type offense. But we have to play better and we have to tackle better. You can’t arm tackle good football players.”