By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC
In one of the oldest rivalries in all of college football, Morehouse hung its hat on two of the oldest axioms in the game: stopping the run is essential and games are won and lost in the trenches.
The Maroon Tigers did both, holding Clark-Atlanta's vaunted triple option offense in check for most of the day while putting up enough points to win the 86th meeting between the two Historically Black College and University rivals, 20-7 at CAU's Panther Stadium.
It was the second consecutive win for Morehouse, which improved to 4-1, 2-0 in the Eastern division of the Southeastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. CAU fell to 1-3, 0-3 in league play.
CAU won last year’s contest, 21-17, largely on the legs of running back Montavious Taylor (Carver-Atlanta), who ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Saturday, the Morehouse defense held the sophomore, who is fourth in the conference in rushing, to just 75 yards on 17 carries. CAU managed just 170 yards rushing as a team, on 42 carries, and just 217 yards total.
“We know that in football the biggest thing is being strong in the trenches,” said Maroon Tiger senior defensive lineman Clarence Christian (East Paulding). “That’s why we work hard in practice and in the weigh room, both [offensive and defensive linemen] of us. We know that’s where games are won and it paid off today.”
Though the Morehouse defense ruled the day, the offensive unit was not as impressive, failing to take full advantage of five CAU turnovers. But the Maroon Tigers took a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by sophomore quarterback Monqavious Johnson (M.L. King).
Johnson, who was off to a solid day passing completing 8-of-16 passes for 179 yards, had to be relieved in the second half by sophomore Jordan Tarver (Stephenson), after suffering an ankle injury.
Late in the third quarter, a three-and-out and a poor punt by the Panthers set up Morehouse at the CAU 32-yard line. On the fourth play from scrimmage, running back Malik Johnson darted up the middle to score from 22 yards out to give the Maroon Tigers a 14-0 lead. Johnson led all rushers with 118 yards on 24 carries.
Morehouse head coach Rich Freeman said the sophomore from Concord, N.C. has positioned himself to be a key contributor the rest of the season by giving the offense another weapon besides sophomore Cameron Fields, a transfer from Division II powerhouse Grand Valley State.
“One thing we have been missing is explosiveness from the running back position,” Freeman said. “We’ve had it with Cameron Fields, but we use him in so many positions. Malik has been a pleasant surprise. He works hard to be a good student and he’s been working hard for us, and we’re glad it looks like he’s really going to help us this season and the next two before he graduates.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, with CAU still trailing 14-0 and looking for a spark, the Panthers attempted a fake punt on fourth-and-two from their own 32-yard line. But the pass from the Panther up back in the formation to Jordan Dooley (Duluth) was off the mark.
Morehouse took over and four plays later, Johnson scored from four yards out to boost the lead to 20-0 after the point after attempt failed.
CAU put together its best drive of the day on the ensuing possession. The Panthers moved 72 yards in just six plays. More than half of the yardage came on a personal foul penalty and a 38-yard keeper by sophomore quarterback Trenton Earl (Stockbridge), who capped the march with a 25-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Matthew Daniels (Dutchtown), to finally get the Panthers on the board with a little over five minutes left in the game.
The Panthers got another possession with a minute remaining, but couldn’t move beyond midfield.
“Take nothing away from Morehouse. Coach Freeman and those guys did a great job today and my hat is off to them,” CAU head coach Kevin Weston. “But we have got to stop hurting ourselves. We had too many turnovers. Whenever we got something going, we did something to stop ourselves.”
About the Author
