Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU football team continued Big South action Saturday at Joe Walton Stadium, falling to North Carolina A&T, 38-14. The Colonials slipped to 0-7 overall during the 2022 season, including 0-3 in the Big South.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Aggies grabbed an early 7-0 lead on their first possession of the contest, as Jalen Fowler hit Zachary Leslie with a one-yard touchdown pass on a bootleg that capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive to open the contest. Fowler and Leslie would hook up again in the first quarter, this time for a 32-yard score down the near sideline at the 1:48 mark. The score came on the first play of the third drive for the Aggies, as the Colonials had gone three-and-out, with Amonte Jones giving North Carolina A&T (4-3 / 2-0 Big South) good field position with a 17-yard punt return to the 32-yard line of RMU.
THROUGH THE AIR
Fowler finished 12-for-19 passing in the first half for 179 yards and four touchdowns as the Aggies grabbed a 30-0 lead at the break. In addition to his pair of scoring passes to Leslie, Fowler hit running back Bhayshul Tuten for a 52-yard touchdown completion and wide receiver Sterling Berkhalter for a 34-yard score. Overall in the contest, Fowler finished 19-for-30 for 297 yards.
BREAKING THROUGH
The Colonials got on the board on the opening possession of the second half, marching 95 yards on just four plays. On the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, running back
Alijah Jackson burst through the line and provided a 52-yard dash before being pulled down by Amir McNeill in North Carolina A&T territory. Two plays later running back
Kimon O'Sullivan picked up eight yards, and after a roughing the passer penalty by the Aggies gave RMU 1st-and-10 inside the red zone, junior quarterback
Anthony Chiccitt hit tight end
Jake Kupchella down the middle for a 15-yard touchdown pass to get the Colonials on the board. On the strength of his 52-yard run during the scoring drive, Jackson eclipsed 100 yards on the ground for the first time in 2022, finishing with 111 yards on 23 attempts, an average of 4.8 yards per rush.
SOMETHING TO BUILD ON
RMU engineered another scoring drive in the fourth quarter, with Chiccitt capping an eight-play, 40-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run on a bootleg that pulled the Colonials to within 33-14. The big play came on fourth down, when Chiccitt connected with wide receiver
Jamal Hill down the far sideline for 34 yards that put the ball at the three-yard line of North Carolina A&T. In his first start since the second game of the season and third overall in 2022, Chiccitt finished 8-for-18 passing for 70 yards and a score. He connected with seven different receivers in the contest.
DEFENSIVELY SPEAKING
Linebacker
Joe Casale again paced the RMU defense Saturday against North Carolina A&T, finishing with nine stops, including three tackles for loss. Fellow linebacker
Jamar Shegog added eight takedowns, while safety
Shakespeare Louis had the best game of his young career. In addition to each of his seven tackles being of the solo variety, Louis notched a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry against the Aggies. Also notching seven tackles was defensive back
Dakari Cabell, who also recorded one of RMU's nine tackles for loss on the afternoon.
UP NEXT
RMU takes to the road for its next three games, visiting Appalachian State Saturday, Oct. 29, for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff at Kidd Brewer Stadium. The Colonials will also visit Charleston Southern (11/5) and Murray (11/12) during their road trip before concluding the 2022 season Saturday, Nov. 19, against Bryant with a Noon kickoff at Joe Walton Stadium.
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