Greensboro, NC—North Carolina A&T parlayed some big plays on special teams and points off turnovers into a 27-19 win over Howard in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Aggie Stadium before 16,011.

The Aggies (3-0, 1-0 in the MEAC) set the tone early when it blocked a John Fleck punt on the Bison's first possession that set up a four-yard TD pass from Kindle Lewis to Devin Moore with less than three minutes off the clock.

Howard (1-3, 0-1 in the MEAC) countered with a short drive that was capped off by s 24-yard TD pass from Greg McGhee to David Wilson with 8:45 left on the clock. It was Wilson's first TD of the season.

But the Aggies came right back as Kindle capped off a short drive with an 8-yard run that made it 13-7 following a missed PAT attempt by Camacho Garcia.

NC A&T would go on to score twice during a three minute span, capitalizing on two Bison miscues, a fumble and an interception. Dominique Drake scored on a one-yard plunge and Desmond Lawrence added another on a 38-yard reverse to make it 27-10 with 3:36 left on the clock before intermission.

"You can't beat anyone like that with the number of turnovers and bad field position, personal fouls and holding calls that put us in bad situations," lamented Howard head coach Ray Petty. "We were moving the football but we had two blocked kicks and it is hard to win like that."

The Bison were able to get something going on their next possession but the drive stalled and they were forced to settle for 26-yard field goal by Fleck. Howard trailed 27-10 at the half.

The Bison came out in the third quarter and began to assert themselves defensively, limiting the Aggies to several three and outs while also forcing two fumbles.

Howard scored two minutes into the third period when McGhee found Stewart Hartman for a 17-yard TD that narrowed the margin to 27-16
Although the Bison were able to stymie NC A&T through most of the second half, they were only able to muster a 40-yard Fleck field goal the rest of the way. Howard did not aid its cause as at least seven passes were dropped.

"The number of dropped passes that we had was rough," said Petty. "Greg put the ball right there and they dropped them. It was frustrating."

Howard limited the Aggies to 75 yards of total offense and only three first downs in the second half.

"The defense stepped up in the second half, but we couldn't put the ball in the end zone," explained Petty. " We had a field goal blocked with four minutes left in the game and a chance to win. We just have to put it all together."

McGhee had another good statistical game, accounting for 236 of the Bison's 324 yards of total offense. But the dropped passes and missed opportunities proved to be too much to overcome.

"They did exactly what we thought they would do," said McGhee, who attempted 45 passes. " It was self-inflicted wounds. We had three offensive turnovers, a blocked field goal and a blocked extra point. We just have to correct that and put it all together."

GAME NOTES: William Parker and McGhee each rushed for 50 yards…freshman running back Anthony Philyaw continues to impress. He rushed for 38 yards and caught a pass for 16 yards…Richard Aiyegoro caught a career-high seven passes while Stewart also grabbed a career best of 6 passes for 60 yards and a TD…after going 7 for 7 on field goals, Fleck had one blocked following a drop of the snap by the holder…Cam Alston and Tabrian Resby each collected 9 tackles .the Howard special teams did a very effective job in containing the nationally ranked Aggie kick return teams to under 10 yards per return…NC A&T came into the game averaging over 45 yards as a team.
NEXT UP: Howard plays North Carolina Central in its home opener on October 5 in Greene Stadium at 1 pm, NC A&T travels to Atlanta, Ga to play South Carolina State in the Atlanta Classic on October 5 at 3:30 pm.