Turnovers key as Tuskegee rallies past Morehouse

Columbus — For one half Saturday, Tuskegee relaxed its hammerlock on its oldest rival for about an hour and Morehouse could actually breathe a bit.

Then not so much.

Rallying from a touchdown halftime deficit, Tuskegee reasserted authority with a run of four consecutive touchdowns - including two within three seconds — as the Golden Tigers won the 73rd Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic 42-27 before 21,234 at J.C. McClung Stadium.

That gave Tuskegee five straight wins over Morehouse, 11 wins in their last 12 meetings and left the Golden Tigers (6-0, 5-0) with a 64-27-7 advantage in the series that dates back to 1902.

The win also extended Tuskegee’s win streak to 22 games as the school pursues its second straight SIAC title as well as another Historic Black College national championship.

And yet, Morehouse (3-3, 3-2) had the champions down 14-7 at the half, had intercepted SIAC player of the year Jacary Atkinson two times and was getting the ball to start the second half.

“We didn’t even really have to play perfect,” Morehouse coach Rich Freeman said. “Just don’t do anything to kill ourselves. And that’s what we did. We had too many turnovers and at too many critical times.”

The Maroon Tigers fumbled the ball away on their first possession of the second half and Tuskegee later tied the game on a three-yard dive by John Pascley. Two possessions later, Morehouse lost its lead for good after a 62-yard Atkinson-to-Antoine Mitchell bomb for a 21-14 advantage with 2:11 left in the third quarter.

“We can’t put all three phases together,” said Morehouse linebacker Jeffrey Cargile, who had 2 1/2 of the Maroon Tigers’ six sacks as the game’s defensive MVP. “The defense has a really good game or the offense has a really good game.”

The killing blow came just inside the three-minute mark of the final quarter when Morehouse yielded touchdowns on consecutive plays. Tuskegee cornerback Justin Hannah stepped in front of a Christian Sterling pass and returned it 22 yards for a score and 28-14 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, returner Jamar Rodriguez lost the ball on Kurious Alexander’s hard tackle and David Newman returned the ball 18 yards for a second score for a 35-14 with 11:41 to play.

Sterling would finish with 150 yards on 14-for-38 passing but Morehouse never generated a ground game, finishing with 32 rushing yards compared to Tukegee’s 183. Atkinson led the Golden Tigers in rushing with 69 yards while throwing for another 239. Tuskgee wound up outgaining Morehouse 422 yards to 182.

“I really do believe this a very talented football team,” Freeman said. “And I cannot wait for the opportunity to put four quarters and all three phases together.

“If we can do that, not only will we beat you but we’ll win big.”