ATLANTA —
Clark Atlanta University dominated the
Tuskegee Golden Tigers to secure a win in their final home game of the 2024 season. Panther Nation was especially thrilled with the performance of their Panthers, being that they have not won against Tuskegee since the 1995-1996 season - in 29 years. CAU played spectacularly on both sides of the ball.
David Wright III completed 20 of 24 attempted passes for 299 yards, and
Lacedric Foster was a defensive force with nine total tackles.
The Panthers won the coin toss and elected to defer. The Golden Tigers took this opportunity to score on their opening drive by making several short passes and completing the touchdown effort with a successful rush for the final three yards. Refusing to face a loss on their home turf, the Panthers responded immediately on their first possession.
David Wright III displayed incredible focus to complete multiple passes, including a 39-yard pass to
Ronnie West, bringing the score to 7-6. The Panthers had a little bit of difficulty on the field goal attempt but made up for the missed point defensively. Tuskegee had an unsuccessful drive due to notable performances by
Kayleb Pierce and
Jaiden Cleveland, who made tackles, resulting in a loss of yardage for the Golden Tigers.
Beginning the second quarter, the Clark Atlanta Panthers had possession and
Alan Riggins bulldozed the Tuskegee defense. Following a commanding initial carry of 8 yards by
Alan Riggins,
David Wright III completed a 17-yard pass to
Jamal Jones and
Alan Riggins made easy work of the defense to run 20 yards for the touchdown.
Leonardo Cabrera successfully made his field goal attempt, making the score 7-13. Tuskegee attempted to have an answer on their next drive, but they were swiftly shut down by the mighty Panther defense. Forced by CAU to attempt a field goal, the momentum remained with the Panthers when Tuskegee was unable to make a 38-yard field goal. Regaining possession, Clark Atlanta University expertly ran the clock while moving up the field.
David Wright III showed off his skill again with several critical passes and
Alan Riggins carried the ball for the final three yards for his second touchdown of the game. Cabrera took the field to successfully put an exclamation point on the drive to bring the score to 7- 20 with 38 seconds left in the second quarter. Tuskegee still had no answer for the Panther defense and lost possession with 8 seconds remaining in the half.
Coming out of halftime it appeared the Golden Tigers had a new resolve, though it wouldn't matter to the Panthers who were prepared with an answer to every effort to change the momentum of the game. When the Golden Bears rushed their way to a touchdown to bring the score to 14- 20
David Wright III responded with an authoritative connection to
Jamal Jones. Jones, ensuring the pass completion then ran 68 yards for another CAU touchdown bringing the score to 14- 26 to end the third quarter. Tuskegee opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown that was immediately answered with a Panther touchdown by
Armone Harris and a successful field goal by
Leonardo Cabrera to make the score 21-33. Tuskegee attempted to challenge the outcome of the game with another touchdown bringing the score to 28-33. Clark Atlanta then on their penultimate drive went with a field goal attempt from 27 yards, which was good making the score 28-36. On Tuskegee's final drive, their offense was shut down as
Rejai Anderson intercepted the pass and returned 41 yards to end the game and put another tally in the W column for the Panthers.
UP NEXT
The Clark Atlanta University Panthers will travel to Morehouse College to play in the Battle of the AUC next Saturday, November 9. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.