Morgan State University crowd savor OT win over Howard

Photo: Chad Simpson turns simple screen play into 84 yard TD run.

By Ken Murray, Baltimore Sun

Morgan State 36, Howard 33

Bears outlast Howard after losing star back Simpson, 10-point lead

After Morgan State treated a record homecoming crowd to a roller-coaster ride of an afternoon against Howard yesterday, Bears coach Donald Hill-Eley proposed taking this rivalry to a bigger stage.

Like M&T Bank Stadium.

"I hope this game goes down to the Ravens' stadium," a drained Hill-Eley said after Morgan slipped past Howard in overtime, 36-33, on James Meade's 23-yard field goal.

A Hughes Stadium crowd of 14,987 watched Morgan squander a pair of 10-point leads on a crisp, fall day only to regain control in overtime.

The Bears (4-3) improved to 3-1 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to earn a showdown game with first-place Delaware State next week in Dover.

Morgan beat Howard (2-4, 0-3 MEAC) with role reversal. Byron Selby threw for 216 yards and a touchdown in a two-man quarterback rotation after the Bears lost tailback Chad Simpson and much of their vaunted running game to a sprained ankle.

They also won with a pass rush that disrupted Brian Johnson's prolific passing game for Howard. Johnson had averaged 194.4 passing yards but left on a frustrating 103-yard note.

The key to stopping Johnson, defensive tackle Justin Lawrence said, was getting "our defensive ends upfield. As soon as [Johnson] feels pressure, he's going to run."

Morgan lost Simpson and defensive tackle Anthony Young (shoulder) at halftime and had linebacker Jerrell Guyton (ankle) for a limited time in the second half.

If necessity is truly the mother of invention, the Bears discovered a few more players they can count on.

Lawrence, who has five sacks this season, played fullback in short yardage and goal-line situations for the Bears. His double duty grew out of an injury to fullback Jephte Cherenfant two games ago, and Lawrence made a nifty catch on a 2-yard touchdown throw from Mario Melton in the second quarter.

The Bears also had to rely on Devan James to supply the running game. James pounded for 73 yards on 19 carries, the biggest a 35-yard touchdown sprint in the fourth quarter that gave Morgan a 33-23 lead.

In the first half, Simpson produced his 10th rushing touchdown of the season but was held to a season-low 15 yards. His biggest contribution came in the passing game, when he took a screen pass from Selby 84 yards for Morgan's first touchdown.

"We are three or four deep at tailback," Selby said. "We lose something when he's out of the game, but we have one of the finest rushing attacks in the conference."

Selby completed 11 of 20 passes in a rotation with Melton, who completed three of seven for 60 yards.

"I'm cool with it," Selby said of splitting time. "I'm a senior and Mario's a junior. It's not about one person. We're taking care of business now, but we've got to think about the future."

Business got tricky when Howard erased a 10-point deficit in the last 3:30 of regulation. After the Bison missed a 39-yard field goal on their first possession of overtime, Morgan stayed on the ground as James carried five straight times to reach the Howard 6-yard line.

Then Meade hit the game-winner, his third field goal of the day. Knowing Meade's dedication to the job, the Bears had no worries he'd deliver in the clutch.

"If you ride by the field at 4 a.m., Meade might be out there kicking," Selby said.

First quarter
Morg-Simpson 84 pass from Selby (Meade kick), 13:33.
Morg-FG Meade 38, 9:06.
How-Johnson 10 run (Wiehberg kick), 8:40.
How-Whittaker 46 run (Wiehberg kick), 7:19.
How-FG Wiehberg 34, 3:38.
Morg-Simpson 2 run (Meade kick), :19.

Second quarter
How-Harper 32 pass from Johnson (kick failed), 8:55.
Morg-Lawrence 2 pass from Melton (kick failed), 4:11.
Morg-FG Meade 43, :29.

Fourth quarter
Morg-James 35 run (Meade kick), 8:20.
How-FG Wiehberg 21, 3:30.
How-Williams 12 pass from Johnson (Wiehberg kick), :46.
Overtime
Morg-FG Meade 23.
A-14,987.

How Morgan State Performed

First downs 18 19

Rushes-yards 46-198 50-154

Passing 103 276

Comp-Att-Int 7-16-2 14-27-0

Return Yards 0 21

Punts-Avg. 3-33.7 5-30.2

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 6-38 9-79

Time of Possession 30:00 30:00

RUSHING-Howard, Perry 25-117, Whittaker 9-71, Johnson 11-10, Means 1-0. Morgan St., James 19-73, Selby 13-31, J.Wilson 1-20, Simpson 13-15, Melton 2-11, Jones 1-3, Moore 1-1.
PASSING-Howard, Johnson 7-16-2-103. Morgan St., Selby 11-20-0-216, Melton 3-7-0-60.
RECEIVING-Howard, Williams 3-36, Harper 1-32, Whittaker 1-15, Blake 1-10, Duncan 1-10. Morgan St., Baptiste 5-75, Surratt 3-61, Simpson 2-106, James 1-13, Wolfe 1-12, R.Sykes 1-7, Lawrence 1-2.