CANTON, Ohio - The upset minded Morehouse College football team suffered a thrilling loss to FCS and SWAC member Alabama A&M in the inaugural Black College Hall of Fame Classic, 35-30, Saturday afternoon in Canton, Ohio.
 
The Maroon Tigers start the season (0-1, 0-0 SIAC) while the Bulldogs open the 2019 season (1-0, 0-0).
 
Junior running back Santo Dunn (Miami, Fla.) gave Morehouse their first lead of the game with 1:01 remaining in the 4th quarter on a one-yard plunge giving MHC a 30-28 lead. Alabama A&M marched 61-yards in just :49 seconds and completed the thrilling come-from-behind victory as Aqeel Glass found Brian Jenkins, Jr. on a 20-yard pass sealing the victory for AAMU.

Alabama A&M wasted little time in getting the scoring started as Aqeel Glass found Zabrian Moore on a 40-yard touchdown strike on the first play from scrimmage giving the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead. Morehouse got on the board midway through second quarter when Frank Bailey (Atlanta, Ga.) caught a screen pass and broke it 59-yards for the touchdown tying the score at 7-7. AAMU responded with an eight play 66-yard drive capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Jordan Bentley giving the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead. The Maroon Tigers closed the gap on the last play of the first half when junior kicker Fernando S. Delamora kicked a 42-yard field goal closing the gap to 14-10 going into the half.
 
After Morehouse's first drive of the second half stalled, Alabama A&M extended their lead to 21-10 when Glass found Anthony Harris on 6-yard pass in the back of the endzone. AAMU added to their lead when Glass hit Kendric Johnson on a 43-yard pass capping an eight play 87-yard drive extending the Bulldog lead to 28-10.
 
The Maroon Tigers mounted a ferocious comeback as they turned two AAMU turnovers into scores. First, after a Julien Turner (Pickerington, Ohio) interception, back-up transfer quarterback Jalen Brown (Stamford, Ct.) found Dunn on a 36-yard TD strike cutting the Bulldog lead to 28-17. On the very next series junior cornerback Micaiah Paige (Upper Marlboro, Md.) returned an interception 74-yards to the Alabama A&M four yard line. Five plays later Brown threw a five-yard touchdown strike to senior Tremell Gooden (Fairburn, Ga.) getting Morehouse within one score at 28-24. Dunn's one-yard touchdown run closed MHC's miraculous comeback giving them the lead, 30-28 with one minute remaining.
 
Offensively Morehouse was led by Dunn who finished with 206 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns while Brown came in relief at quarterback connected on 10-of-14 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Defensively, senior Jonathan Mathis (Stone Mountain, Ga.) led the Maroon Tiger defense with nine tackles and one pass break-up, Bertram Johnson (Detroit, Mich) had seven tackles while Julien Turner finished with six tackles and one interception. Paige with two tackles and one interception while sophomore transfer, Demetrice Lofton (Fairburn, Ga.) had four tackles and one sack.
 
Morehouse out rushed Alabama A&M 130 to 57 on the ground and fell just short in total yards 454 – 436. Defensively MHC forced five AAMU turnovers.
 
The Maroon Tigers will use the short week to regroup and will travel to Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday, September 7th to take on the Tigers of Edward Waters College. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. ET