Fourth Quarter Comeback Secured First Win for the CAU Panthers

ATLANTA, Georgia -- Down 17-0 at the end of the third quarter, the Clark Atlanta University (CAU) Panthers mounted a colossal comeback scoring 20 points in the fourth to hold off Lane College for the 20-17 win in their HOME opener at Panther Stadium Saturday.

In a relatively quiet first half for both teams, Lane (0-2, 0-0) struck first with a 45-yard field goal at the 3:34 mark to take a slim 3-0 lead into halftime. With two passing touchdowns in the third quarter, one for 42 yards and the other for 24 yards, the Dragons seemed to be on cruise control. However, the Panthers (1-1, 0-0) found an answer by converting an interception and a fumble recovery into scoring drives. On the first possession of the fourth, Clark Atlanta's Joshua Tate captured one of his two interceptions that set up the Panthers' first scoring drive. After a 41-yard run and third down conversion by sophomore Montavious Taylor, Shaquan Mitchell's five-yard touchdown run put CAU on the board at 12:29.

Lane's next drive resulted in a fumble recovery by Clark Atlanta's Marquis Abernathy who returned it 32 yards for a touchdown that closed the gap to four points, 17-13. With a rush of momentum, the Panthers kept up the defensive pressure and forced the Dragons to punt on a three-and-two after senior linebacker Bre'nard Williams stopped the quarterback's rushing attack for a one-yard loss. On CAU's ensueing drive, Mitchell's second rushing touchdown on a 55-yard drive with 2:52 remaining gave the Panthers their first lead, 20-17, that they would never relinquish. Tate's second pick that he returned for 90 yards deminished Lane's hope for a final scoring drive and sealed the win for Clark Atlanta.

Williams and Tate led a ferocious CAU defense with a game-high 11 and 7 tackles, respectively, that stalled Lane's offense in the final 15 minutes of the game. With nine solo tackles, Williams also recorded one sack, one pass breakup and six tackles for a loss of 78 yards. As a team, CAU and Lane finished with 45 tackles while Clark Atlanta also had five pass breakups and four sacks.

Offensively, the Panthers managed 286 total yards with 237 in a balanced ground attack led by a trio of backs:Travious Blair (67 yards), Mitchell (62 yards) and Taylor (54 yards). For the Dragons, Roderick McKee connected on 18-of-30 passes for a game-high 278 passing yards.

Next, the Panthers will travel to Fort Valley State University to take on the Wildcats Saturday, Sept. 20th, in a 6 p.m., battle, before hosting West Georgia in their second HOME game at Panther Stadium Saturday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m.

Box Score 

COURTESY CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION