Celebration Bowl 2019: NC A&T wins fourth in 5 years over Alcorn State

NC A&T took down Alcorn State in a high-scoring Celebration Bowl. The Aggies won the HBCU national championship for the fourth time in five years.

Kylil Carter came up big in his hometown, throwing for 364 yards and six touchdowns and rushing for 96 yards for MEAC champion NC A&T in a 64-44 Aggies victory over SWAC champion Alcorn State at the Celebration Bowl.

Since 2015, the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta has been a regular feature on the first day of bowl season. After playing the first two editions at the Georgia Dome in 2015 and 2016, the game has been a regular feature of the bowl schedule at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. For HBCU programs, this is the Holy Grail. Rather than competing in the FCS playoffs, the SWAC and MEAC champions play their one-off game that serves as the national championship between historically black colleges and universities.

Right from its inception, the game effectively became the exclusive domain of NC A&T. The Aggies missed the Celebration Bowl only once, when NC Central won their rivalry game in 2016 and took the MEAC crown. Otherwise, NC A&T has returned to Atlanta year after year to assert its dominance as the premier HBCU in the country.

Three times, Alcorn State has been their opponent. The Braves lost to the Aggies 41-34 in the inaugural 2015 game. Alcorn State then fell again to NC A&T last season, as the Aggies prevailed 24-22. This year, Fred McNair and the Braves hoped to finally clear that last hurdle and return to Mississippi victorious.

It was not to be, though, as this turned into the wildest Celebration Bowl yet. The two teams combined to produce more than 1000 yards and 100 points of offense as they went well past the over/under set at 52 points.

Alcorn State took an early lead as Corey McCullough put a 28-yard field goal through the uprights midway through the first quarter after the Braves got the ball back on a muffed punt. They retook a 10-7 lead five minutes into the second quarter on a 36-yard touchdown strike from Felix Harper to Chris Blair.

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It was the last lead Alcorn State would hold on Saturday. Harper finished the game 25-of-42 for 341 passing yards, with five touchdowns and an interception, along with two rushing touchdowns. Even that wasn’t enough to will the Braves to victory.

NC A&T promptly scored 17 unanswered points before halftime to take a 24-10 lead into the locker room at the intermission. Coming out of the break, Jah-Maine Martin ran the first play from scrimmage 75 yards for a score to put the Aggies up by three touchdowns.

Alcorn State continued fighting gamely to the bitter end, but they were unable to bridge the deficit imposed by their MEAC counterpart. NC A&T blocked an extra point and returned it for a two-point conversion the other direction to make it 57-44 late in the fourth quarter. The Aggies added another touchdown to round out the final margin at 20 points in a 64-44 victory.

NC A&T has put together one of the most dominant runs in the HBCU ranks in recent seasons, and Sam Washington continued the tradition of excellence in Greensboro with his second Celebration Bowl win in two years at the helm.