The play symbolized the Eagles' ability this football season to succeed despite adversity.

On the next play, Brown threw under pressure into the end zone and into the arms of Delta State's Monterio James.

That play represented the problems N.C. Central couldn't solve, and the Eagles' own mistakes led to a 24-17 loss to Delta State in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs in front of 4,386 at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.

Delta State advances to play at North Alabama in the Southeast Regional final.

In their final game, the Eagles (11-1):

* dropped six passes, including Charles Futrell's drop in the end zone during the first half that would have given the Eagles a 14-0 lead.

* had a potential interception sail through both hands of linebacker Derrick Ray, who was deep in Statesmen territory during the fourth quarter.

* rushed for just 36 yards on 21 carries.

* tried to convert on a fourth-and-13 early in the fourth quarter, but Brown was quickly sacked for a 7-yard loss.

Yet, the Eagles were down only a touchdown late in the fourth quarter when James undercut Futrell's route to pick off Brown for N.C. Central's only turnover.

"We had the ball first-and-goal on the 8-yard-line," N.C. Central coach Rod Broadway said. "To win national championships, you can't make mistakes like that. We said the start of the second half would be so critical for us.

"We go out, we've got receivers running wide open and drop the ball. We have a receiver in the end zone in double team but goes up and can't make a play. Those are the type of plays you've got to make to win championships, and we didn't make them today."

The Statesmen (11-2) got off to a slow start, which allowed the Eagles to gain a 7-0 lead when Brown connected with Wayne Blackwell for a 9-yard touchdown pass.

The Eagles again were driving in the first quarter when Futrell dropped Brown's pass in the end zone.

N.C. Central's momentum then deserted it. The Eagles attempted to convert on fourth-and-two, but Brown was sacked.

The Statesmen marched down the field and scored their first of three straight touchdowns in the second quarter.

"What we tried to start doing was coming off on the snap count," Delta State coach Rick Rhoades said. "We had several procedure penalties [early in the first quarter], and those are very frustrating and continue to plague us. But, you know, it doesn't take a whole lot to light that fuse in a football game."

Behind a dazzling effort by senior quarterback Scott Eyster, the Statesmen took a 21-10 lead into halftime. Eyster finished the game with 264 passing yards after completing 23 of 34 attempts.

By comparison, Brown had similar yardage, but the redshirt freshman was dealing with an unfamiliar role. Brown threw 40 times, and the Eagles ran only 21 times.

N.C. Central has asked him to manage games this season but not win them. As the clock ticked down, the pressure grew on Brown to find his receivers and for his receivers to catch the ball.

Brown engineered some of the required heroics in the fourth quarter by shepherding a 57-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard pass to Daunte Fields with 10:15 left.

But when Brown later threw the crucial interception, the Eagles' offense ran out of chances.

This was N.C. Central's last game in NCAA Division II. The Eagles exit the CIAA and Division II at the end of the year to move up a division. They hope to join the Division I-AA Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference by the end of requalification period.

The Eagles lose a senior class that has seen the fortunes of the program dramatically change. Broadway took over the program in 2003 and went 4-6.

Since that season, the Eagles are 29-5 and 3-1 against Division I-AA foes. They also won back-to-back CIAA championships.

"I came in here in 2002, a long time ago -- the whole mentality and the quality of people that are here is a complete turn-around," redshirt senior Andre George said. "We had a bunch of people before that wanted to be on the football team just for that sake of saying they were on the football team. Now we have people that want to win, who want to get better, who want to come to the weight room and want to compete.

"As far as support across the board from the coaching staff down to the community, it's like night and day. I really wish I was a freshman coming into something like this."

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