Senior quarterback Kwashaun Quick led North Carolina A&T to a 41-34 victory over Alcorn State on Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Dome in the inaugural Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl.
In a quarterback rotation with freshman quarterback Kylil Carter, Quick started his seventh game of the season after coming off a knee injury.
“I thought he managed the game for us. Made some plays with his feet and got the ball in the right spot a couple times,” Aggies’ coach Rod Broadway said. “It was a total team effort. I though offensively, we played well.”
Quick, a senior, rushed for 39 yards and one touchdown against the Braves (9-4, 7-2).
With a record of 15-5 as a starter for the Aggies, Quick is the first quarterback in North Carolina A&T history to have 2,000 passing and 1,000 rushing yards in a career.
On Saturday, Quick was 11-of-16 passing for 149 yards, with a long completion of 59.
The stamina of the Aggies’ offense in the second half helped control a comeback by the Braves.
“We have a saying that we preach to our guys and we try to ingrain in them: If something good happens, keep playing. If something bad happens, keep playing,” Broadway said. “We don’t get too high or too low. We just keep playing. When they made their run, we kept playing. We knew we were going to have an opportunity to win the ballgame.”
Quick was relieved at quarterback by Carter near the end of the first quarter, but Quick returned to lead the team for the remainder of the game.
Despite the knee injury, Quick said he had no doubts of his health entering the game.
“This was the opportunity of a lifetime, (so you have to) make the most of it,” Quick said. “I’ve been in this type of game before. In big games, they say big time players make big time plays.”
Carter, a 5-foot-11 freshman from Austell, was given 97 snaps in the past three games. Carter demonstrated why he’s been given more responsibility as he scrambled for critical third-down conversions in the first half in the same possession that led to a field goal in the second quarter.
Carter was 2-of-6 for 14 yards and rushed for 38 yards and one interception.
“You saw two championship football teams out there today, and we were fortunate to win the game,” Broadway said. “I thought our guys got in there, fought and won the ballgame.”
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