Box Score DURHAM,NC---Redshirt sophomore DeWann Ford threw 17-of-25 for 223 yards and two touchdowns but it wasn't enough as North Carolina Central held on to a 33-28 victory over South Carolina State Thursday (Sept.21) at O'Kelly Riddick Stadium.

The Bulldogs fall to 1-2 overall, 0-1 in the MEAC, while NC Central improves to 2-1 overall, 1-0 in the league.

"We made far too many mistakes and could not stop them at the end," said a disappointed Pough. "I thought when we went up by eight near the end of the third, we had a good chance of pulling it out but we just could do much after that."

SC State jumped out to 14-7 lead on a 20-yard touchdown reception by senior tight end Kendall Cobb from Ford.  Ford found the end zone on a 7-yard punch early in the second quarter at the 11:47 mark. NCCU got on the board with an 85-yard fumble recovery for touchdown by Davant Reynolds.

Ford scored again on a 26-yard toss to Quan Caldwell with 8:46 remaining in the second quarter to push the lead 21-7. NCCU freshman quarterback Chauncey Caldwell pulled the Eagles within a score on with a 27-yard bomb to Jordan Fieulleteau with 2:48 remaining.

NCCU opened up the second-half with back-to-back field goals of 35-yards and 41 by Aedan Johnson with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter to pull the Eagles within one, 21-20. Ford gave the Bulldogs offense a boost on a 9-yard scamper with 0:05 seconds remaining to give SC State a 28-20 lead to close out the third quarter.

Naill Ramadan who replaced an injured Caldwell made the most it throwing a 20-yard pass to Jacen Murphy to pull the Eagles within two, 28-26 at 8:10 mark in the fourth quarter. NCCU attempted a two-point conversion but came up short.

NCCU kept their momentum going late in the game with Caldwell sealing the victory on a 38-yard connection to Josh McCoy with 5:24 remaining.

The Bulldog defense was led by redshirt senior All-American linebacker Darius Leonard with 12 tackles, while junior defensive lineman Tyrell Goodwin added 9 and Dayshawn Taylor eight (8) in the loss.

Caldwell led the receiving corps with five (5) catches for 87-yards and a touchdown, redshirt punter Cliff Benjamin, Jr. had a solid day punting with five punts for 182 yards (36.4 yards per punt).

SC State returns to action at home when they host MEAC rival N.C.A&T State in a pivotal league showdown at Oliver Dawson Stadium/Willie Jeffries Field. Kickoff is 6 p.m.