Eagles, Fretwell welcome Broncos

By MIKE POTTER, The Herald-Sun
August 31, 2007   12:09 am 

D.J. Fretwell had a huge night for N.C. Central in his first game as a starter on Saturday night. 
The 6-1, 243-pound senior linebacker from Canton was in on 14 tackles including six solos and two for losses in the Eagles' season opener at Albany State. 
The total was just one fewer tackle than he had two seasons ago, when he was a sophomore at NCCU after transferring from Wofford. 
The problem was that Fretwell's effort came in a losing cause. The Eagles, who are the defending Black College National Champions, came up just short of a miracle comeback and lost 16-10 in Mose Rison's first game as head coach. 
NCCU gets a chance to even its record on Sunday at 4 p.m., when old CIAA rival Fayetteville State (0-1) visits O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium for the Labor Day Classic. 
"I was a little more nervous before the game because I was going to start," Fretwell said of Saturday's game against the four-time defending SIAC champions. "But other than that it wasn't that different. 
"I thought our defense played well, but we need to pick it up this week. We want to be perfect in this game." 
The Eagles' offense was ineffective in the first half of the ASU game, keeping the defenders on the field for almost 20 minutes before the break. But Fretwell said it wasn't overly frustrating for his unit. 
"That's our job," Fretwell said of the long stretches on the field on a hot night in South Georgia. "It's part of football, and that's why we worked so hard to get in shape in preseason camp." 
Fretwell, a three-sport star at Pisgah High who was all-conference in basketball and ran sprints on the track team, already has a nice ring collection from his college football days. He was a redshirt for the Terriers in 2003, and collected one ring for the Southern Conference title. After he decided to transfer he chose NCCU on the suggestion of his uncle, NCCU alumnus James Fretwell Jr. 
Two years ago with the Eagles, he collected another for the CIAA championship. Last season, when he was in on 38 tackles and recovered a pair of fumbles, he got another for the Black National crown. 
Since NCCU is no longer in the CIAA and is now a Football Championship Subdivision independent, the Black National championship is the only chance for him to get one more ring. NCCU could repeat if the Eagles run the table against the six other HBCUs on the schedule and finish at least 9-2, but a loss on Sunday would almost certainly doom those chances. 
Fretwell had one of his better games with the Eagles last season, when he was in on 10 tackles including six solos and one for a loss in NCCU's 49-6 rout of the Broncos down at Jeralds Stadium. 
NCCU was favored in that game, but certainly not by six touchdowns. On that night the Eagles forced six turnovers and held FSU to 203 yards total offense. 
"I thought they had a pretty tough running game, but they just turned the ball over," Fretwell said of last season's Broncos. "The thing that impressed me about them was that even though we had a big lead they didn't give up. 
"I'm sure they're going to play hard on Saturday, so we have to make sure we play harder." 

NOTES -- NCCU leads the all-time series with FSU 22-8, including two straight victories. n Sunday's game will be the first of the Eagles' only three games against CIAA teams this season. The Eagles host St. Augustine's on Sept. 8, and then travel to East Rutherford, N.J. to face Elizabeth City State in the Whitney Young Classic on Sept. 15. 

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