The latest melee to mar the NCCU-N.C. A&T rivalry started after the final seconds ticked off the clock with NCCU winning 27-22 on a game-saving interception. Players from the Durham university then ran out from their sideline and stomped on the Aggies' bulldog logo painted at the center of the field, taunting the defeated team.

Fists and helmets were soon flying. The fight, which lasted about five minutes, cleared the benches of both teams and involved more than 100 people. It prompted at least one campus police officer to use pepper spray, leaving some players vomiting and gasping.

No criminal charges were filed, and no one was injured. An A&T official blamed NCCU coaches and students for the fight. NCCU said in a written statement that the behavior of both teams was disappointing but would not respond directly to questions.

A&T athletics director DeLores "Dee" Todd said in an interview Sunday that she will cancel the planned 2008 matchup between the historically black universities, which have a heated rivalry dating to 1924.

Todd said A&T officials will review videotape of the fight and will possibly suspend some Aggies players for the next game on Thursday night against Norfolk State University.

Todd, who watched the melee from the stands, blamed members of the Eagles coaching staff for instigating the brawl.

"A couple of their coaches led them out there and were in the middle," Todd said. "One of the coaches picked up a patch of dirt off the dog and threw it. You know, that's just disrespectful and terribly unsportsmanlike. ... Coaches are your leaders, and if a coach does that, then, you can't really expect the kids to do anything different."

Todd said the NCCU players continued the jeering.

"As our coaches went out to shake hands, the Central kids were giving them the finger and saying, 'You're losers, get used to it,' as they were, you know, flipping them off," Todd said.

In a written release, NCCU's athletics department said it will suspend one player, whom it did not identify, for this Saturday's game against Presbyterian College.

"What happened following the game was a great disappointment as the poor judgment and thoughtless actions of a few student-athletes led to an unfortunate and embarrassing altercation between both teams at midfield," Bill Hayes, NCCU's athletics director, said in a written statement. "This type of behavior will not be tolerated and is in no way indicative of this athletics department or this university. We will respond to this matter swiftly and decisively."

No NCCU official would comment on the incident beyond the written statement, said Kyle Serba, the university's assistant athletics director for media relations.

William Friday, former UNC system president and former co-chair of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, commended A&T athletics director Todd for canceling next year's matchup.

"I thought the immediate action was appropriate," Friday said. "[Fighting] kills the spirit of the occasion. ... There is no place for that kind of fist-fighting in any kind of event."

Friday lumped the fight in with Michael Vick's recent guilty plea to dog-fighting charges and the doping allegations that led to Floyd Landis being stripped of his Tour de France victory.

"We've just got to find a way in sport to right this ship of constant problems we've seen in the last 12 to 18 months. The public is getting tired of it," Friday said.

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