North Carolina Central Eagles

N.C. Central game-tying extra point blocked after unsportsmanlike penalty

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:50 p.m. ET

Fansided, Tyler Brooke/FanSided via Saturday Blitz

The North Carolina Central Eagles thought they had tied it up on Saturday against Grambling, but the potential game-tying extra point was blocked.

Bowl season got kicked off with a thrilling game on Saturday between the North Carolina Central Eagles and Grambling Tigers in the Celebration Bowl. Unfortunately for the Eagles, a costly mental error late in the fourth quarter wound up killing their chances of getting a win.

With just a few minutes remaining in the game, the Eagles were trailing 10-3 and trying to drive down the field for a game-tying score. N.C. Central quarterback Malcolm Brown had thrown a couple of interceptions earlier in the game, but he was able to redeem himself with a crazy 39-yard touchdown to Quentin Atkinson.

Unfortunately, after the score, Atkinson was so fired up that he ripped his helmet off while on the field, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to force the Eagles to kick a longer game-tying extra point. Here’s a video of the wild touchdown.

kevinmcguire: #MEACTION ABC Las Vegas Bowl: Houston vs. San Diego State https://t.co/gwRXzAwfcz pic.twitter.com/AcnMFH7yE6

— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) December 17, 2016

On the ensuing extra point, Brandon McLaren had the kick attempt blocked, which meant that the Eagles still trailed 10-9. Here’s the video of the block that killed any hopes that the Eagles had of winning the Celebration Bowl.

After the extra point was blocked, the Eagles tried to attempt an onside kick, but even that couldn’t go their way. Grambling went on to win the wild game, putting them at 12-1 on the year with their only loss coming to the Arizona Wildcats.

As for the Eagles and Atkinson, they can at least be happy with a nine-game season that ended in a hard-fought battle in a dramatic bowl game.