Box Score EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The improvement continues to show for the Morehouse football team, which fell to 0-3 and dropped its opening conference game in a 24-14 loss to Albany State Saturday afternoon in the Toyota HBCU NY Classic at MetLife Stadium.
The Maroon Tigers, under new head coach Gerard Wilcher, had suffered two lopsided losses to open the season but was in a tight contest in the fourth quarter against the Golden Rams. When Derrach West found Marqueiz Pride for a 7-yard touchdown with 9:33 left in the contest, the announced crowd of 18,076 had itself a ballgame.
Unfortunately, Albany State (1-2, 1-0 SIAC) had an answer on the ensuing drive, marching 72 yards on eight plays. When Isaiah Knowles connected with Rashad Jordan on a 13-yard scoring pass – the second scoring connection of the game for the pair – with 4:52 left, it put Morehouse (0-3, 0-1) in an insurmountable position.
Still, after falling behind 14-0 less than 10 minutes into the game, the Maroon Tigers showed gumption in fighting back to keep the final result in doubt until late. Albany State led 17-0 with less than six minutes left before halftime, but Morehouse quickly gobbled up 71 yards in eight plays, getting a 31-yard touchdown pass from West to Brogan Korta to get on the board before the half.
After the two opening drives, the defense started to get into gear. Led by Daylon Land, who had a game-high 16 tackles (eight solo), Albany State had just 28 total yards for the rest of the first half. Interceptions by Isaiah Wimbush and Tyler Davis on back-to-back drives kept the game close before West and Pride hooked up in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 17-14.
Zion Bouie had 83 yards rushing on 20 carries, West threw for 157 yards and two touchdowns, and Colby Bell (4 catches, 52 yards) and Korta (2 catches, 45 yards) paced the receiving corps. Caleb Grant had 10 tackles, (seven solo) and two tackles for loss, Stephen Singleton added eight tackles and Didier Attipou finished with seven tackles for Morehouse.
The Maroon Tigers will continue their road game schedule as they travel to Edward Waters next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m
