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The Aggie-Eagle classic kicks off tonight at 7:30pm at Bank of America stadium. The Aggies from North Carolina A&T State University have won the last four matchups in this series and the last three games haven’t even been close.
At the Big South Conference media day, A&T coach Sam Washington said his HBCU squad was focused, but treating this like a normal game.
Playing your rivals in front of an anticipated crowd of 40,000 could get you playing out of your character. The Aggies just need to play their brand of football according to Washington, who said, “we’re going to do what we do and that’s run, block and tackle.”
Perhaps not giving the opposition bulletin board material is their key to success. One hundred years later, the in-state rivalry remains stronger than ever though recent history would suggest their isn’t much drama left as the Aggies A&T defeated Central in 2018 – 45-0, 54-0 in 2019, and 37-14 last year.
The Aggies even won the very first game a whole one hundred years ago in 1922, holding the Eagles scoreless.
NASCAR’S Bubba Wallace, never too far removed from the culture of the Carolinas, will be honoring both HBCU’s with stickers on his Jordan stock car this weekend.
Bubba Wallace will represent @NCCU_Football and @ncatsuaggies on his car this weekend at Darlington. The teams play in the 100th anniversary of them rivalry Saturday in Charlotte in the @DukesMayoBowl
Wallace meeting with teams at @23XIRacing tonight.@wcnc I #HBCU I #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/huvXgg4RkA
— Nick Carboni (@NickCarboniWCNC) September 1, 2022
“I’m looking forward to the energy, the loudness, and the culture,” N.C. A&T cheerleader Carmen Haywood told the A&T Register. “It will be a lot of adrenaline and since I am senior, it will be my last game going against the Eagles.”
“You have opportunity to play in front of, you know, 50,000 people in a venue like the Panthers stadium and, you know, to have a great weekend,” said Trei Oliver, head football coach at NC Central to WSOC 9.
The Charlotte Sports Foundation and 100 Black Men of Greater Charlotte, an organization that works within the community to enrich the lives of African-American youth, have been working with the colleges to help capture the HBCU experience in the Queen City.
“I’m glad that HBCUs now are starting to get the recognition that they deserve, because they were absolutely essential to educating African-Americans and getting us to where we are now,” Brian Holloway, the associate athletic director at NC A&T told WSOC.
The weekend is full of live music, vendors, food trucks, tailgates and vibes for the whole family, check it out here for a full rundown of things to do.
You can watch the game live via ESPN3 or on ESPNU. Tickets are available on Ticketmasteror by contacting the CSF offices at Tickets@CharlotteSports.org.
Link to Black Wall Street Times>