October 19, 2013 – ALBANY, GA – Head Coach Rich Freeman took the walking wounded Maroon Tigers to the Albany State Homecoming and after several more injuries limped away with a 42-20 defeat by the Golden Rams.
Albany State put up 35 points in the first half on touchdown passes of 12, 25, 37 and 52 yards and a 57-yard punt return. The Maroon Tigers held them to a single touchdown in the second half.
After a touchdown in the second quarter, the Maroon Tigers scored twice in the second half, on a 4-yard touchdown run by Douglas Wyche and a 6-yard touchdown reception by Devon Mann from Joshua Harris.
Morehouse travelled with three quarterbacks, but by the end of the first quarter, all were injured and limping.
Jordan Tarver started the game, but was sacked early and left the game with a shoulder injury. He was replaced by Joshua Harris who went down soon afterwards with an ankle injury.
By the end of the first quarter, Morehouse had only one mobile quarterback – Monqavious Johnson – and he was limping badly. Johnson has been nursing an ankle injury for three weeks, but was pressed into service because of more serious injuries to the other signal callers.
Johnson limped his way to the end of the half, but was replaced in the second half by Harris who had his ankle re-taped. Johnson completed 2-of-4 passes for 33 yards and was sacked four times.
Harris finished the game, completing 11-of-31 passes, for 98 yards. He rushed for 44 yards, threw two interceptions and was sacked three times.
The lone bright spot in the Morehouse first half was a 51-yard touchdown run by Thomas Williams. Hector Solis missed the extra point when the snap was mishandled by backup holder Don Cox.
Joshua Thurston – the regular holder – had left the game a few plays earlier, after aggravating a leg injury when he was tackled on a kickoff return.
Starting running back Shelton Hamilton also suffered an injury after only three carries and was replaced by Wyche who had a breakout game. The redshirt freshman caught a pass for 13 yards and rushed for a game-high 72 yards and a touchdown.
Morehouse started the second half on a better note. After forcing a Golden Rams' punt, Joshua Harris returned to the field and orchestrated a 10-play 58-yard drive capped by a touchdown pass to Mann.
Mann led all receivers, with eight catches for 83 yards. Sean Moore caught three passes for 35 yards.
The lopsided defeat follows a 54-10 drubbing by Tuskegee last week. Morehouse has not beaten Albany State since a 24-19 win in 2008. Albany State, one of the traditional SIAC powerhouses, came into the game at 1-4. They lost last week to Lane College, 37-31.
Morehouse will take on the Benedict College Tigers, Saturday, at 2 p.m., for Homecoming. Last season, Morehouse lost, 39-26, to Benedict at the Tigers' Homecoming.
