By Stephen D. Riley
AFRO Staff Writer
Morgan’s impressive start under coach Donald Hill-Eley has them atop their division, and the team has now beaten Howard five straight times. (AFRO Photo)
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(October 18, 2009) - A match-up between the Morgan State Bears and Howard University Bison is a traditional battle between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., but Morgan State’s 14-7 win Oct. 15 was anything but a classic.
On a rainy, cold and windy night, ESPNU was on hand to nationally televise the rivalry game. Those who tuned in saw a sloppy and lackluster game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds.
Morgan State took a 14-0 lead into halftime on big plays from their passing game. A 31-yard first quarter touchdown pass between quarterback Carlton Jackson and wide receiver Edwin Baptiste put up the first points of the game. Jackson would throw a second touchdown right before the half, finding Lamont Bryant for a five-yard score.
Morgan State appeared in control with a two-touchdown lead in poor weather conditions, but a third-quarter mistake would change the game.
With Morgan deep in their own territory, Jackson’s pass to the left side of the field was intercepted by Howard linebacker Keith Pough, who returned the ball to the Morgan five-yard line. Howard quarterback Floyd Haigler would find Phillip Doakes for a three-yard touchdown a few plays later to cut the Morgan lead to 14-7 with six minutes left in the third quarter.
Despite the amount of time left on the clock, Howard wouldn’t get anywhere close to tying the score until only a few seconds remained the game. A fumbled snap by Morgan punter Nicholas Adams gave Howard the ball back at the Mogan’s 48-yard line with 1:07 left.
Morgan defensive back Richard Wilson ended the threat when he intercepted Haigler’s pass on the right side of the field with 4.5 seconds left. Morgan would kneel to take the game and improve their record to 5-1, one of the best starts in team history.
Wilson caught both the biggest pass of the game and the attention of Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley.
“(Richard) was the defensive back, one of the better kids we have out there and they tried to go on top of him and he put himself in great position to bring the interception down and give us another opportunity to win,” Hill-Eley said in a statement posted on morganstatebears.com.
Howard dropped to 2-4 on the season and 0-3 in the MEAC division, and will have to regroup as they prepare to host North Carolina A&T at their homecoming on Oct 24.
Morgan’s impressive start has them atop their division, and the team has now beaten Howard five straight times.
“Being 5-1 is definitely an expectation.” Hill-Eley said in his statement. “We expect to win week in and week out when we go out there. So this has been a reward for the time and all the hard effort.”