Grind City Football: Aggies top historic run with Celebration Bowl win; become first Division-I HBCU team to go 12-0
Michael WallaceBy Michael Wallace and Donal Ware
Grind City MediaATLANTA – You can’t argue with perfection.
And when it comes to the final BOXTOROW Coaches Poll, the North Carolina A&T Aggies left little to debate by capping their unblemished season with a 21-14 win over Gambling State in last weekend’s Celebration Bowl to finish a unanimous No.1 and as HBCU national champions.
“We appreciate BOXTOROW recognizing us as their national champion,” said seventh-year N.C. A&T coach Rod Broadway, who has led the Aggies to a national title two of the past three seasons. “It is an honor because we know how much they devote to covering Black college football.”
The Aggies (12-0) have been the most dominant team in black college football throughout the season, and have won nine of their 12 games by a double-digit margin. But playing in front of more than 25,000 fans Saturday and before a national TV audience on ABC, the Aggies needed a touchdown on Lamar Raynard’s quarterback sneak with 38 seconds left and then a defensive stand on Grambling’s ensuing possession to secure the victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Aggies sat atop the poll each week since the first game of the regular season, and became the first Division I HBCU team to finish the season undefeated.
“I told my coaches when we met before the start of camp that this might be the best team I’ve ever coached, and look how it turned out,” Broadway said. “We’re 12-0. We’re Black college national champs for the second time in three years and our seniors walk out of here with 40 wins and five rings. That’s special. But this was a special group, and it’s been a blessing to coach these guys.”
Grambling, which fell short of winning a second straight championship in the Celebration Bowl, finished second in the poll after Saturday’s loss snapped its 11-game winning streak. It also ended the most successful two-year run in the history of the legendary program once guided by longtime iconic coach Eddie Robinson. The Tigers have gone 22-3 overall the past two seasons, have won three straight SWAC West division titles and consecutive conference championships.
“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, but this time we just came up a little bit short,” Grambling coach Broderick Fobbs said. “When you’ve given as much as we’ve given, it hurts right now. But there’s nothing for this program, our coaching staff or any of these young men to hang their heads about.”
The BOXTOROW HBCU FCS coaches poll is administered by FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW and is voted on weekly by HBCU Football Championship Subdivision coaches.
Final 2017 BOXTOROW FCS HBCU Football Coaches Poll
(Records through December 16, 2017)
No. Team W/L Pts Last Week 1. 
North Carolina A&T (21)12-0 210 1 2. 
Grambling 11-2 189 2 3. 
Alcorn State 7-5 159 4 4. 
Bethune-Cookman 7-4 153 3 5. 
Southern 7-4 115 5 6. 
Howard 7-4 108 6 7. 
North Carolina Central 7-4 94 7 8. 
Hampton 6-5 59 8 9. 
Prairie View A&M 6-5 42 9 10. 
Tennessee State 6-5 39 10 Note: (1st place votes in parentheses)
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Published on Dec 19, 2016
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