Atlanta, GA – In one of the most dominant defensive efforts in recent memory, Morehouse held Lane College to 83 yards of total offense and beat the Dragons 24-10 in the home opener.
Anxious to amend for last week's second-half letdown, when they surrendered 23 points to Arkansas Pine Bluff, the Maroon Tiger defense stymied the Dragons, on the way to the first win of the season.
The Tiger allowed a team-record minus-23 yard on the ground and a paltry 106 yards through the air. Lane's only scoring was a 44-yard field goal late in the second quarter and too-little-too-late touchdown in the fourth. Linebacker and team captain
David Smith led the defensive charge, with his second double-digit tackling performance of the season. Smith racked up a game-high 10 tackles, including two tackles for loss.
Smith got plenty of teammate support, especially from
Bundrea Conway and
Kenneth Hagins. Conway recorded eight tackles, with two and a half of those for loss. Hagins posted six tackles and a sack.
Gary Awkard played some big D, making five tackles, breaking up a pass and recovering a fumble.
Cameron Miller and
Antonio Johnson each had four tackles. Two of Johnson's tackles were sacks for a loss of 16 yards
Kamari Jones-Hunter only had two tackles but both were for a loss and one was a 16-yard sack, early in the fourth quarter.
On the other side of the ball, Morehouse racked up 354 yards of offense, mostly through the air. Quarterback
Kivon Taylor completed 14 of 24 passes for 163 yard, before suffering an ankle injury and giving way to freshman
Michael Sims.
Sims, making his home debut, picked up where Taylor left off, completing eight of 13 passes for 117 yards and running for a two-yard touchdown.
Sims' big play was a 39-yard connection to tight end
Ryan Edwards who made a highly-contested grab in the right flat and broke multiple tackles, to gain nearly 15 yards after the catch. The big play set up the Sims to
Amyr Smith 13-yard touchdown reception that put Morehouse ahead 17-3.
Two minutes later Sims plowed into the end zone from the two-yard line on a quarterback draw. Eight Maroon Tigers caught 22 passes for 280 yards.
Amyr Smith caught six balls for 76 yards and touchdown.
Ryan Edwards caught four passes for 95 yards.
Ricci Nuckles grabbed three passes for 27 yards.
On the ground,
Bricen Terry led all rushers, with eight carries for 44 yards. Frank Bailey had five carries for 13 yards and
Santo Dunn carried three times for 11 yards.
Morehouse takes to the road for the next two games, travelling to Wilberforce, OH, Saturday, to face the Central State University Marauders, then goes to Birmingham, to play the Miles College Golden Bears.
The Maroon Tigers return home September 30, to host the Kentucky State University Thorobreds.