Box Score COLUMBIA –
Trent Miles returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown and the Benedict College Tigers capitalized on five Morehouse turnovers to win their first football game of the season, 39-26 over the Maroon Tigers on Homecoming Day, Saturday at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.
The win improves Benedict to 1-7 on the season, 1-4 in the SIAC. Morehouse drops to 2-6 overall, 1-4 in the SIAC.
The Benedict Tigers have been searching for a win all season, and put together their best effort in front of the large alumni crowd. Benedict has now won its last four Homecoming contests.
“It's a great feeling to get this win. It's been a tough, tough season for these kids,” said Benedict coach
James Woody. “But I'll tell you something, these guys fight very hard until the very end, they never give up, they give everything they have to give, they believe in just getting it done. That's what I'm proud of these guys for. They deserve that victory.”
Morehouse had taken a 13-7 lead in the third quarter when
Trent Miles took the ensuing kickoff and raced down the home sideline 93 yards. Benedict ran a fake kick on the PAT, with holder
Simeon Kelley rushing for the two-point conversion to give the Tigers a 15-13 lead they never relinquished.
“The kickoff return gave us a lot of leverage,” Woody said. “And after that, we started growing from that leverage. We're finally learning how to take advantage of turnovers. The defense got some turnovers for us and we capitalized a couple of times.”
Morehouse fumbled on its next possession, with
Tyri Harvey recovering at the Morehouse 26-yard line. A 28-yard pass from
Marcus Graham to
Kendariss Brown set up a 39-yard touchdown run by
Christopher Johnson to start a wild and high-scoring fourth quarter.
Morehouse fumbled again on its next possession, and the Tigers moved to the Morehouse 16-yard line, where
Eduardo Hernandez kicked a 33-yard field goal to put Benedict ahead 25-13 with 11:07 left in the game.
Morehouse wasn't ready to throw in the towel, as quarterback Donnay Ragland threw a pass to Devon Mann, who raced 75 yards for a touchdown. Morehouse's two-point conversion pass failed, cutting the lead to 25-19 with 10 minutes left.
After the two teams traded punts, Benedict's
Jaquay Perdue intercepted a deep Ragland pass and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown, giving Benedict a 32-19 lead with just 1:59 left on the clock.
The Maroon Tigers went 66 yards on their next possession in just under a minute, thanks to a pair of Benedict penalties and a 20-yard touchdown pass from Ragland to Khamarr Smith to cut the lead to 32-26 with 1:03 left to play.
Morehouse attempted an onside kick, but Benedict's
Maurice Griffin caught the ball on the fly and raced 44 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line. After a 1-yard loss, Johnson ran around the left edge for a 2-yard scoring run with 38 seconds left for the final 39-26 score.
Johnson rushed for 59 yards and two scores. Graham completed 15-of-28 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown.
Martin Epps had nine tackles and a forced fumble, while
Damien Blakney had seven tackles and a sack.
Morehouse outgained the Tigers 392-286 in total offense, including rushing for 226 yards. David Carter led the Maroon Tigers with 129 yards and a touchdown, while Ragland rushed for 60 yards. But the difference was five turnovers for Morehouse and none for Benedict. This was the first game this season the Tigers did not have a turnover.
Benedict takes on Albany State next week in Augusta, Ga., in the annual Augusta Capital City Classic.
