While they were lucky enough to win their own homecoming this year, playing at other schools' just doesn't suit the Bison football team. Howard (2-5 overall, 0-3 MEAC) lost to the North Carolina A&T (6-1 overall, 3-0 MEAC) 27-7 at the Aggie homecoming this Saturday. Just the week before, Morgan State defeated Howard 33-12 for their homecoming. The contest was almost like deja vù for the Bison going into halftime. They found themselves lacking momentum heading into the locker room, much the same way they did playing Morgan State. The Bison were looking to hold the Aggies to seven points, but freshman linebacker Herbert Dixon sacked Howard quarterback Ron Venters with less than three minutes left in the half. At third and long, Venters threw an incomplete pass, forcing the Bison to punt on fourth down. The ensuing eight-play, 34-yard drive resulted in an Aggie touchdown to give them a 14-0 advantage. "We didn't run the clock out, and they were able to pick up the momentum and the score; it was almost the same thing at Morgan," said Bison Head Coach Ray Petty. At Morgan, the Bears scored off a blocked punt going into their halftime. The Aggie "Blue Death" defense put pressure on the Bison, with 4 sacks for 19 yards. Bison running back Antoine Rutherford was battling for yards, coming up with only 51 yards on 18 carries. A sea of yellow and blue defenders pounced on him every time he got the ball. "We had to play good solid run defense," said NC A&T Head Coach George Small. "We wanted to have at least 3 or 4 guys on the ball every single time." Prior to the game, Petty spoke of the importance of clock control in defeating the Aggies. The defense was effective at stopping A&T until late in the fourth quarter when their fatigue began to show. "The defense played very well," said Petty, "But they spent too much time on the field." Senior linebacker Gregg Spriggs agreed. "We lost focus at the end; it was a rough game." Spriggs had 3.5 tackles in Saturday's that pushed the Aggies back 13 yards. Spectators were beginning to predict a shutout in the fourth quarter; A&T had scored 20 unanswered points before Howard wide receiver Travis Gilliam scored his first career touchdown from an almost impossible catch on a roll-out play. "It was supposed to go the other way," Gilliam said, but I read the quarterback and made a play on the ball. It was a busted play." Quarterback Marcos Moreno threw a 71-yard pass to Gilliam, who ran up the right into the endzone for the score. "That was an incredible catch," Moreno said. The Aggies came back to score one more touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter for the final score of 27-7. The Bison, who are 1-3 on the road, will be looking to dig themselves out of a 2-game scoring slump next week at Norfolk State's homecoming. So far, their record is 0-2 at other schools' homecomings.
is a member of the 
