North Carolina Central’s Celebration Bowl aspirations took a major hit on Halloween Night.
South Carolina State moved to the head of the line in the MEAC with a 24-21 win over the Eagles in a crucial conference clash in Orangeburg, SC. The Bulldogs delivered numerous body blows in the first half, building a 17-0 lead, then weathered a Central comeback in the fourth quarter.
South Carolina State improves to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the MEAC standings. NCCU, which had won five in a row heading into Thursday, dropped to 6-3, 2-1 in the league.
The MEAC champ will represent the conference in the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta this December. The Eagles, the 2022 Celebration Bowl champions, came into the season favored to win the MEAC’s spot in the esteemed HBCU national title game. Now, South Carolina State, under first year coach Chennis Berry, takes over as the front-runner.
North Carolina Central fell behind early and never could dig all the way out in Thursday’s anticipated match-up. South Carolina State outgained the Eagles 266-47 in the first half. Quarterback Eric Phoenix threw for 208 yards and a touchdown, while running 11 yards for another score.
A J’Mari Taylor 36-yard run with 10:02 left in the third quarter got North Carolina Central on the board. That series was set up by Max U’Ren 47-yard interception return.
But SCSU answered with another touchdown late in the period, a 42-yard strike from Phoenix to Caden High, to push its advantage to 24-7.
Central’s offense caught life in the fourth quarter. Walker Harris completed touchdown throws to Markell Quick (51 yards) and Chauncey Spikes (66 yards) in a span of less than 90 seconds, and the Eagles had trimmed their deficit to three.
After forcing a punt, North Carolina Central got the ball back at its 40 with 10:01 to go. The Eagles advanced to the South Carolina State 34 a few plays later, but Harris fumbled the ball after getting sacked on third down.
The Bulldogs recovered at the 35 with 6:23 to go, and North Carolina Central never saw possession again.
The biggest play of the clinching series came on third-down-and-20 from the NCCU 47. Phoenix avoided the rush, juked a defender and scampered 19 yards. South Carolina State picked up a first down on the next snap and ran out the clock from there.
For the game, Phoenix finished 26-of-36 passing for 321 yards and two TDs. He rushed for another 60 yards. Harris finished with 210 yards passing and two TDs but also had an interception. Taylor, who had managed 196 yards rushing last weekend against Morgan State, only mustered 72 on Thursday.
Kole Jones had 12 tackles for NC Central, including eight solo stops. Malcolm Reed and Jaden Taylor earned 10 stops apiece, with Taylor also recording two tackles-for-loss.
Thursday’s loss doesn’t eliminate NCCU from Celebration Bowl contention. A one-loss team has won the MEAC in recent years. But the Eagles will need to win out against Howard and Delaware State after a bye week, and then hope South Carolina State stumbles down the stretch.
