Cooke Returns Another Kick For Six In A&T Loss to Richmond
A&T gives up 21 points on special teams and defensive touchdowns.
from www.ncataggies.com
GREENSBORO – Graduate wide receiver/kickoff returner Taymon Cooke tied North Carolina A&T’s career kickoff returns for touchdowns record on Saturday, but the Richmond Spiders scored 21 points without its offense hitting the field in what ended in a 33-10 defeat for A&T Saturday afternoon at Truist Stadium.
Cooke tied Brian Rodman (1990-93) and Malik Wilson (2015-18) for the career record at A&T with four. Wilson also happens to have the single-season record as he finished with four in 2018. Cooke’s 91-yard return put A&T on the board in the second quarter, cutting the Spiders lead to 17-7 with 9:34 remaining in the first half.
“What a dynamic player we have in Taymon Cooke,” said A&T head coach Vincent Brown. “He already has three touchdowns on kickoff returns because he’s a real threat to take it to the house every single time he touches the ball.”
Cooke is the nation’s leader in kickoff returns for touchdowns and yards per kickoff return. But his kickoff return came after the Spiders returned an interception 48 yards for a touchdown to take the 17-0 lead. Scoring without putting an offense on the field fueled the Spiders on Saturday.
All the turnovers are critical,” Brown said. “But you know, when you give the ball away, and they score touchdowns, it is super, super hard to overcome those. Your chances of winning if you turn the ball over twice, not for touchdowns, just turn it over twice, go down astronomically, like less than 20 percent. If you turn it over three times, you almost have no chance of winning the game, and to have three turnovers that result in touchdowns is almost unheard of.”
After Cooke’s return, the Aggies forced Richmond to punt after a six-play drive. With the defense playing well, the Aggies prepared to punt the ball to the Spiders after their drive stalled at their 36-yard line. But Trey Mancuso broke through the Aggies protection and blocked Caleb Brickhouse’s punt. Mancuso’s teammate Quintarius Jeffries scooped up the bouncing ball and scored to give the Spiders a 23-7 lead.
The Spiders reached the Aggies 37 on their next drive before the Aggies got into the turnover business. Avarion Cole picked off his second pass in as many weeks, returning Camden Coleman’s pass to the A&T 30 with 21 seconds remaining in the first half. Cole has all three of the Aggies interceptions this season.
Freshman quarterback Kevin White took immediate advantage of the Richmond miscue, sprinting down the middle of the field for a 50-yard gain to the Richmond 20. A roughing the passer called moved the Aggies to the 10 with five seconds remaining in the first half. Aggies kicker Owen Daffer stepped on the field and booted a 28-yard field goal to send the Aggies into the locker room trailing 23-10.
\A&T had some success moving the ball in the third quarter. The Aggies moved the ball to their 46 before turning it over on downs after failing to convert a 4th-and-3. On A&T’s ensuing drive, a 12-yard completion to Laquan Veney from White and a 9-yard run by White aided by a Richmond penalty helped the Aggies move the ball deep into Richmond territory. But Daffer missed on a 43-yard field goal.
But A&T’s next two drives resulted in a three-and-out and an interception. The Aggies then turned to redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Brickhandler, but his first pass was returned 32 yards on an interception by Richmond’s Aaron Banks to put the game away for the Spiders.
“We felt like Kevin struggled a little bit, and then he broke off the long run to give us some momentum right before the half, and I felt like, okay, let’s see how he does coming back out. Obviously, there was not enough production there. We felt like, well, it’s late in the game. Let’s put Eli in to see if he can generate a spark.”
Defensively, BJ Turner led the Aggies with 13 tackles, three for loss and a pass breakup. Cornerback Karon Prunty finished with seven tackles, and Cole finished with six tackles, all solo. The Aggies’ season continues at Hampton next week.
“Every day we go out, we have two choices. You can just be average, or you can be great,” Brown said. “I choose to be great at what I’m doing, learning from every experience. It won’t always be peaches and cream where everything goes well. Sometimes, the lessons learned are painful, and that’s where we are right now.”