COLUMBIA, S.C. – Fresh off their own Homecoming victory, the Benedict College Tigers will try to spoil Morehouse College's Homecoming contest when the Tigers take on the Maroon Tigers Saturday on the campus of Morehouse College in Atlanta.

The Tigers (3-4, 1-1 SIAC East) will be looking for their second two-game winning streak, and a chance to get their record to .500. More importantly, it will be a key contest in the tight SIAC East Division race. Morehouse comes in at 2-5 overall and 0-2 in the SIAC East. The game can be heard on Kiss 103.1 FM and online at http://www.kiss-1031.com/. Live stats will also be available.

While their record may not reflect it, Morehouse is a talented and dangerous team, said Benedict head coach James Woody. And the fact that it is their Homecoming game makes this an even more important game for the Maroon Tigers to win.

"They're a very fast football team. They're very talented," Woody said. "Coach (Rich) Freeman is a great coach and he'll have those guys organized and have them ready. But we look forward to the challenge."

The Tigers have the top overall defense in the SIAC, and fourth-best in NCAA Division II at 276 yards per game. Morehouse comes in averaging 321.1 yards per game. The Maroon Tigers have been struggling the past few weeks with injuries at the quarterback position. They played three different quarterbacks in last week's 42-20 loss to Albany State.

On the defensive side of the ball, Morehouse is giving up an average of 407 yards per game and 31.6 points per game.

The Tigers made a quarterback switch last week, moving Marcus Graham to wide receiver and elevating redshirt freshman Brandon Thompson from a backup wide receiver and quarterback to starting quarterback. In his first start, Thompson led the Tigers with 91 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while completing 11-of-21 passes for 103 yards.

"I'm expecting him to have a much better game. He's an exciting player," Woody said about Thompson. "He got thrown into the fire, but he's an exciting football player. We're expecting some great things out of him."

Graham caught three passes for 32 yards in his first game as a receiver. One of his mentors during practice the last couple of weeks has been senior wide receiver Harlon Samuels.

Samuels came to Benedict as a quarterback. In 2011, as a sophomore, he played in 10 games as a backup quarterback, completed 10 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. He also was second on the team in rushing with 168 yards. Those weren't great numbers for a quarterback, and Samuels was tried out at other positions, including running back and cornerback on the defensive side. Last season, he was moved to wide receiver, although he did play a few snaps as a Wildcat quarterback. He was third on the team in receiving yards with 234, but did not have a touchdown.

"I had to challenge Harlon," Woody said. "I'll be honest with you, I did not renew his scholarship coming back in last spring. I expected more out of him. I think he really got complacent with his work habits. But he made that commitment. The one thing he said to me in the exit interview, 'That's OK. You can cut my money, but I'm going to earn it back.' "

So Samuels put in extra work during the summer, working out and studying game film. By the time the team returned in August, Woody could tell the difference, and was praising Samuels as one of the team's top offensive weapons.

"I'm very, very happy with the leadership role that he's playing and he's very, very excited out there, making plays and getting the job done," Woody said. "He's one of our top leaders. I'm just happy where he's at."

Heading into Saturday's game, Samuels is the team's top receiver with 28 catches for 481 yards, an average of 17.2 yards per catch, with three touchdowns. Last week, he returned a punt 52 yards for his first-ever punt return for a touchdown in his life.

"I felt the energy from my team and I knew I had to step up and make a big play," Samuels said.

Woody is expecting Samuels to keep making big plays this week against the Maroon Tigers. With wide receiver Kendariss Brown out with an injury for the second straight game, Samuels has become the team's go-to receiver, and is one of the team's top threats on deep throws.

"It's making me step up," Samuels said of his role with Brown out of the lineup. "It's also making me become more vocal, because KD (Kendariss) used to be the more vocal one. It's made me step up my role and help these young kids."

He has also been working with Graham to make the switch from quarterback to receiver, since that is a move he is very familiar with.

"I've been telling him, 'You're going to know everything out here', because when you're writing up plays, it's going to be 'wow, this is what I've got to do here.'" I've just been teaching him different steps, and how to read different ways. He's adapted pretty good, too. He made some big catches for us in the last game."

Samuels has been through a lot during his four years. From someone who bounced around trying to find a position home, to becoming one of the team's top players. He said he has no regrets about his nomadic life on the football field, and likes playing receiver now.

"It's mostly about adapting and being humble," Samuels said. "You realize you're part of a team and it's not just about you. You've got to help out wherever you can help out. When you master that one position, don't be scared to actually master more than one. If you can help in more than one area, you can help the team as a whole. As a quarterback, you already know coverages, and when you're running your routes, it makes it easier to read the defense."

And Woody said don't be surprised if Samuels helps out the Tigers in the defensive backfield against Morehouse. The Tigers are thin there because of injuries, and Samuels may get called into service to help out.

"He's found his home (at wide receiver)," Woody said. "He's an athlete. He can play defense as well. If we need him Saturday to play defense, we'll play him both ways. He did it in high school and he did it in practice. Everybody's banged up.

"He's in shape," Woody added. "He stayed here over the summer and worked out and got stronger, he got faster and watched a lot of film on his own. The preparation was there. We expect him to be a dual player on both sides of the ball, as well as special teams."

During his career at Benedict, Samuels has been through position changes and coaching changes. As his career winds down, he is excited about the prospect that the Tigers are still in the hunt for the SIAC East Division championship.

"It's crazy how fast time goes. I see some of these freshmen and I remember being in that same position," Samuels said. "It's almost dwindling down, but it will be worth it if the season ends the way we're fighting for and come out with this ring."