North Carolina A&T hung in with Wake Forest for more than a half before losing to the Demon Deacons 45-13 in Winston-Salem Thursday night.
N.C. A&T quarterback Kevin White was 10-of-16 for 116 yards. Andrew Brown hit two field goals, including a 51-yarder in the fourth quarter.
After the Aggies tied the game at 10-all in the second quarter, Wake Forest took the lead for good with five minutes to play in the first half when Donavan Greene turned a short reception into a 24-yard touchdown play by breaking through defenders. Matthew Dennis’ 31-yard field goal on the last snap of the half extended the edge to 17-10.
“They have way more depth and guys start to get worn down,” N.C. A&T coach Vincent Brown said.
The Aggies led 10-7 after two long drives, including a 15-play march that used 8:32 and resulted in Brown’s 38-yard field goal.
Hank Bachmeier came off the bench to throw for three touchdowns in his Wake Forest debut and Taylor Morin returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown and picked up 100 receiving yards as the Demon Deacons pulled away.
Running back Demond Claiborne rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown to help Wake Forest win its fourth straight opener.
Kenji Christian scored a touchdown and ran for 121 yards for the Aggies. Despite N.C. A&T dropping the season opener, Brown was not discouraged by the team effort.
“There are a lot of really good things that showed up,” he said. “We got a long way to go, but I’m not discouraged at all.”
