Buccaneers unable to hold off late surge by No. 15/17 NC A&T in home opener

By: CSU Sports Media

No. 15/17 North Carolina A&T rallied back behind a strong fourth quarter from Jah-Maine Martin as Charleston Southern was unable to hold off the visiting Aggies at Buccaneer Field on Saturday night in the 27-21 loss.

The Buccaneers (0-3) started off the game strong and held the 14-6 lead at the halftime break thanks to the early efforts by Jack Chambers and Kameron Brown. Chambers recorded 160 of his 188 passing yards in the first half, while Brown finished the gamewith a career-high nine catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

N.C. A&T (2-1) built momentum over the second half thanks to a strong run game headlined by Martin. The redshirt-junior running back had 25 carries for 299 yards, 211 of which came in the fourth quarter, and a pair of touchdowns to highlight the Aggiesoffense.

Anton Williams made the most of his first career start on the Bucs defensive lien with eight tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. Cody Cline added nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, while Evan Cruz recorded a career-high three pass breakups for the CSUdefense.

Jermaine Williams (six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss) and Joseph Stuckey (eight tackles) headlined the Aggies defensive effort in the game.

The Bucs and Aggies played in front of an announced 5,112 fans at Buccaneer Field on Saturday evening. CSU unveiled its new Daktronics Video/Scoreboard and sound system, as well as several other stadium enhancements on Hanahan Appreciation Day.

Key Drive

With Charleston Southern leading 14-6 early in the fourth quarter, North Carolina A&T took over at their own 13-yard line following a Kyle Reighard punt. Kylil Carter found Quinze Lockhart for a three-yard pass on the first play of the drive before turningaround handing it off to Martin. The redshirt junior broke through the right side of the line and weaved his way through two tacklers before finding open field on his way to an 84-yard touchdown run.

Carter’s two-point conversion to Elijah Bell tied the game up at 14-14 with 13:57 to play as the Aggies scored 21 consecutive points on their way to taking control of the game in the win.

Up Next

Charleston Southern is back on the road next weekend as CSU stays locally and heads to Johnson Hagood Stadium on Saturday, September 21. Kickoff on ESPN+ is set for 6 p.m.

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