COLUMBIA, S.C. – For the Benedict College Tigers, there’s no place like home. After three straight losses on the road, the Tigers beat Morehouse College 13-10 for a Homecoming win when
Rickym Holmes blocked a 26-yard field goal attempt by Morehouse with 38 seconds left in the game to preserve the victory.
“What an exciting win, what an exciting way to win it,” Benedict head coach Mike White said. “Defensively, especially our pass rush, had issues. We knew they would come back, but what an exciting game. What a great weekend, what a great Homecoming for our seniors. I’m out of words. I’m just excited for our guys now.”
Benedict improves to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the SIAC. Morehouse fell to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the SIAC with its sixth straight loss. More importantly, the win put the Tigers back in the chase for the SIAC East Division crown next week against Albany State in Augusta. Albany State beat Clark Atlanta on Saturday to improve to 2-0 on the East side, while Benedict is now 2-1 and Clark Atlanta falls to 2-2 in the SIAC East. A win next week against Albany State would likely send Benedict to the SIAC Championship game in Montgomery, Ala., on Nov. 12.
The Tigers had built a 13-3 lead when Phillip Brown rushed for his second touchdown on a one-yard quarterback sneak with 4:29 left in the third quarter. Tory Mimb’s PAT was blocked.
The Maroon Tigers went on a 13-play drive in the fourth quarter with quarterback Monqavious Johnson either passing or running on every play. Johnson threw a 29-yard pass to Tremell Gooden for a touchdown with 4:30 left in the game to cut the lead to 13-10.
The Tigers couldn’t move the ball on the ensuing possession, and punted the ball back to Morehouse with 1:19 left in the game. The Maroon Tigers again went to the air, with Johnson completing a 33-yard pass to Tamarick Vanover Jr. on third down and giving Morehouse a first down at the 16-yard line. A nine-yard pass and a three-yard sack gave the Maroon Tigers a third down at the 8-yard line. Johnson attempted to float a pass to the left corner of the end zone, but Benedict cornerback Traequan Shaw broke up the pass. Shaw was filling in for starting cornerback Harmon Brown, who was out with an injury. The Maroon Tigers set up to attempt the short field goal by Alexis Gonzalez, but the 6-foot-5 Holmes pushed his way through the line and got a hand on the ball. Edward Kirkland scooped up the loose ball and raced 35 yards to the Morehouse 45-yard line as the sideline and home stands erupted in celebration.
“The linemen inside have been doing a good job. They’re pretty confident that they can get after it. What a big play for us,” White said. “And what a big play by Shaw. Maybe a couple games ago, Shaw was our fifth corner. He had a great game. We were planning on alternating there, but he just played steady all day. If we had a player of the game, I would probably point to him.”
Morehouse took an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 33-yard field goal by Gonzalez with 6:19 left in the first quarter.
Benedict took a 7-3 lead in the second quarter on a two-yard quarterback run by Brown, after George Myers Jr. broke a 44-yard run. Myers finished with 166 yards on 22 carries against a Morehouse defense that entered the game giving up 76.3 yards per game. As a team, Benedict gained 170 yards rushing.
The Maroon Tigers took the ensuing possession and drove 46 yards, but Gonzalez missed a 31-yard field goal wide left with 15 seconds left in the half, and Benedict took the 7-3 lead into the locker room.
Brown scored on another quarterback keeper from one yard out to cap off a 49-yard drive, giving Benedict a 13-3 lead with 4:29 left in the third quarter.
The Benedict defense held the Maroon Tigers to just 18 yards rushing. Morehouse completed 20 of 37 pass attempts. Travionte Brown and Matthew Anthony each had an interception for the Tigers. Kirkland and Kendrick Frazier led the defense with six tackles each. Frazier also had two sacks as the Tigers sacked the two Morehouse quarterbacks a total of four times.
“Defensively, we have to stay locked in,” White said. “That is the way we have to grow the team. We struggled offensively, and we talked about it at halftime that we had to just grind it. That’s our calling card, we knew we had to run. And George broke a couple long ones, and we needed that. What a game.”
