North Carolina A&T’s Elijah Kennedy returned a punt 96 yards for a touchdown and then a kickoff 85 yards for another score, helping the Aggies rally past Campbell 28-24 as part of North Carolina FCS college football action on Saturday.
The Aggies beat the Camels for the first time in three tries since the two schools joined the CAA in 2023. Campbell had led 21-7 early in the fourth quarter and 24-21 with 1:49 left after an Alex Crabb field goal.
Meanwhile around the state, Gardner-Webb earned a lopsided road win in the OVC/Big South, beating Lindenwood 48-20. North Carolina Central suffered a (surprising?) loss to upstart Delaware State in its MEAC opener. Elon fell on the road at Maine, while Davidson lost to San Diego in Pioneer League play.
Western Carolina had this week off after winning its previous five games. The Catamounts’ pursuit of a SoCon crown resumes next Saturday at Chattanooga
🔗 Jump To: Live FCS Scoreboard | Wrap-Up
🏈 More NC College Football Game-Day Threads: FBS | D2 | D3
🏆 Full Scoreboard: Complete North Carolina College Scoreboard
📊 Live Scoreboard: North Carolina FCS Football
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | San Diego | 7 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 40 | Final | |
 | Davidson | 0 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 28 | ESPN+ | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Campbell | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 24 | Final | |
 | NC A&T | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 28 | FloFootball | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Delaware St | 0 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 35 | Final | |
 | NC Central | 3 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 26 | ESPN+ | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Elon | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | Final | |
 | Maine | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 35 | FloFootball | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Gardner-Webb | 14 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 48 | Final | |
 | Lindenwood | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 20 | ESPN+ |
✅ North Carolina FCS Wrap-Up
Refresh this page later tonight for quick-hit recaps and top performances from across the FCS ranks.
🏆 Biggest Win of the Day
It shouldn’t be surprise that North Carolina A&T and Campbell played to the wire. The two teams have been in their fair share of nail-biting games all season, often on the wrong end. After losing its first 16 CAA games in 2023 and 2024, A&T improved to 2-2 in league play this season. The Aggies prevailed despite mustering just 221 yards of total offense.
💪 Standout Performance
According to the Associated Press, no FCS player had returned a punt and kickoff for a touchdown in the same game until Elijah Kennedy’s feat in the fourth quarter for North Carolina A&T. Kennedy, who has two punt return TDs this season, finished with 244 all-purpose yards. His punt return covered 96 yards, and his 85-yard kickoff return gave A&T the lead for good with 1:29 left.
Gardner-Webb’s Carson Gresock scored four touchdowns on runs of 3, 20, 2 and 2 yards in the Bulldogs’ romp over Lindenwood. GWU finished with 245 rushing yards and 509 total yards.
⚡ Biggest Upset
In the two seasons before former NFL star DeSean Jackson arrived to lead Delaware State, the Hornets won only 2 of 23 games and went 0-10 in the MEAC. This is not that Delaware State program. The Hornets improved to 5-3 overall and stunned a favored North Carolina Central squad 35-26. Delaware State rushed for 241 yards and snapped a five-game losing streak to the Eagles.
Kaiden Bennett threw three TD passes for Delaware State, outdueling NCCU’s Walker Harris (22-of-32 for 354 yards, 2 TDs) on the scoreboard. North Carolina Central took a brief 24-21 lead with 14:15 left after Harris hit Chauncey Spikes on a 10-yard scoring play. But Delaware State added two rushing touchdowns from Marquis Gillis and a safety down the stretch to win going away.
We would have called a Davidson win over San Diego an upset. The 1-7 Wildcats played San Diego to a 28-28 tie into the fourth quarter. But San Diego got a Emiliano Salazar field goal, a 30-yard TD pass from Dom Nankil to Cole Monach and a safety to pull away over the final 10:34.
🔥 Other Highlights & Takeaways
- Gardner-Webb improved to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in OVC/Big South play, clubbing Lindenwood by four touchdowns. The Runnin’ Bulldogs won for the third time in four tries and recorded their second-highest scoring output of the season.
- GWU had two 100-yard rushers in the win: Carson Gresock earned 119 yards on 21 carries, scoring four touchdowns. Quasean Holmes added 111 yards on 17 carries with one TD on a 67-yard burst. Gresock also completed a 12-yard pass.
- Cole Pennington completed 18-of-21 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown to Chris Loftin in Gardner-Webb’s triumph. Charlie Viorel kicked field goals of 40 and 30 yards in the fourth quarter and converted all 6 PATs.
- Campbell quarterback Kamden Sixkiller completed 27 of 44 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns.
- Elon has had a tough time holding teams back in the second half of games this season. Villanova and William & Mary pulled away late in recent weeks, and Maine did the same Saturday, outscoring the Phoenix 21-7 after half.
- Jimmyll Williams scored a first-quarter touchdown on a 17-yard run, and Isaiah Fuhrmann caught a 15-yard TD pass from Landen Clark for Elon’s points at Maine. Jeff Yurk, a 2024 All-American punter, averaged 51.8 yards on four punts, including a 60-yarder that pinned Maine deep.
