N.C. Central loses after celebrating in Celebration Bowl (Video)
N.C. Central wide receiver Quentin Atkinson received a penalty for celebrating a late touchdown and it ended up leading to the extra point being blocked.
The Celebration Bowl should be for celebrating achievements and success for the smaller schools of the NCAA. Instead, it’s a bowl where celebration apparently isn’t allowed anymore, thus destroying the essence and purpose for which the bowl was founded.
Okay, not really but N.C. State was robbed on Saturday. As Grambling led N.C. State late in Atlanta on Saturday, quarterback Malcolm Brown threw up an absolute prayer to Quentin Atkinson in the end zone. Miraculously, Atkinson came down with the football.
With such an incredible catch late in the game in front of a roaring crowd, Atkinson and his teammates celebrated. After he ran off the field, he took his helmet off and ran around which prompted a flag. That led to absolute chaos, as the extra point try got moved back. As fate would have it, Grambling blocked the kick.
While the ref was doing his job by the letter of the law, this is the Celebration Bowl and the kid made an incredible catch worthy of two or three victory laps around the field. It was a tad excessive but certainly wasn’t over the top and didn’t feature a mascot jumping through a flaming ring or trapeze artists.
Had the circus rolled in after the touchdown and a lights show broken out, then sure throw the flag for excessive celebration. They would have to attempt an onside kick and would initially recover it but it was determined they were offside.
It was just a cruel way to end the game for N.C. Central and it’s a loss they will remember. Atkinson shouldn’t take the loss hard, as he made a great catch and was happy to come down with it for his team. This is certainly a rule that needs to be rethought.