Special to The Herald-Sun
WINSTON-SALEM -- N.C. Central didn't much care where it finally won on the road. But that it did against one of its biggest rivals was a little sweeter.
The Eagles capitalized on four Winston-Salem State turnovers to win 18-10 in front of nearly 12,000 at sun-splashed Bowman Gray Stadium.
The way the Eagles (3-7) did it was simple -- a defense that was relentless from the time it stepped off the bus.
"We always come to play as a defense," junior linebacker Donald Laster said of the Eagles, who knocked two WSSU quarterbacks out of the game. "Coach always emphasizes getting to the ball, and we work hard on that."
Getting touchdowns off of two of the Rams' turnovers, the Eagles won their first road game since October 2007. It meant so much to the players, they doused Coach Mose Rison with a water shower and defensive coordinator Jake Cabell.
"It's a great win for us, it's on the road, and we needed a win against one of our arch rivals," Rison said. "We made some mistakes, and it was sloppy but a win is a win is a win and we'll take it."
The Eagles, who led 15-10 at halftime, muffed two punts that could have disastrous in the first half, but the Rams (1-9) failed to take full advantage.
The most costly turnover for the Rams was by quarterback Branden Williams, who threw an interception near midfield with a minute left in the half. Rashad Fox returned the interception 49 yards for the Eagles.
One play later, NCCU quarterback Michael Johnson hit fullback Saeed-Abdul Azeez for a 4-yard touchdown pass and a 15-10 lead after Frankie Cardelle missed his second straight extra point.
Williams had replaced Jarrett Dunston in the first quarter after Dunston was sacked by Laster and had to be helped off the field after suffering a concussion.
Williams later was knocked out of the game for a few plays with an ankle injury when Laster pressured him. On the Rams' final series with less than 30 seconds to go, they had to go with third-string quarterback Jean Julmiste.
"It's always a rivalry playing Winston, and it's always good to go beat them in their home," said Laster, who had eight tackles with 1.5 sacks and had an interception in the third quarter. "We got a lot of pressure on them in this game. Our defensive line did a great job of maintaining that pressure."
Both the Rams and the Eagles were without key players. WSSU top running back Ced Hickman didn't dress for the game because of a nagging groin injury, and NCCU defensive lineman Teryl White has a shoulder injury that kept him out.
"We had been playing pretty well defensively all year, and that was the difference," Rison said about the Eagles holding the Rams to just 191 yards. "We played outstanding defense, even without Teryl White. He had a shoulder problem, and the doctor told him it was best he didn't play today."
The Rams took a 3-0 lead thanks to Landen Thayer's 37-yard field goal. Cardelle tied it up with a 24-yard field goal.
Williams threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Omar Kizzie with 3:02 left in the half to make it 10-9 after Thayer's point-after attempt. But after Fox's interception late in the half, the Eagles cashed in and never looked back.
The only points in the second half came on a 26-yard field goal by Cardelle to make it 18-10 with 6:37 left in the game.
WSSU coach Kermit Blount, whose team had five turnovers a week ago in a loss to Delaware State, said that turnovers again were the difference.
"We can't seem to protect the ball," Blount said. "Two straight weeks, we turned the ball over too many times. The story is to protect the football, and we didn't do that again today."
