ATLANTA – Nikolys Baker bulled his way to two fourth quarter touchdown, helping Morehouse to a, 28-24, come-from-behind win over the Lane College Dragons.Baker was honored before the game along with 18 others seniors in their final home games. On the 10-play game-winning drive that consumed 59 yards, Baker rushed for 42 yards on seven carries. On most of those tackles the fullback from Riverside, CA, broke multiple tackles. On the 9-yard touchdown, he broke two tackles and leaped over another would-be tackler for the final score.
Going out with a bang, "Niko" finished with a game-high 88 on 20 carries, in his best effort since transferring last season.
Baker's first touchdown, a one-yard plunge, was set up by a 73-yard kickoff return by Amyr Smith. The return to the Morehouse one-yard line followed a 55-yard interception of aMonqavious Johnson pass by Lane's Dwayne Brown that gave the Dragons a 24-10 lead with 12 remaining.
Brown's touchdown was part of 21 unanswered points by the Dragons who scored on a one-yard run and a fumble recovery in the end zone of a Johnson fumble.
Morehouse evened the season record to 5-5; 2-2; while Lane fell to 3-7; 1-4.
Smith, a freshman who leads the SIAC in return yards and has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season, barely missed another touchdown but was tackled on the one-yard line. He returned three kickoffs for 156 yards, a punt for nine yards and finished with a game-high 171 all-purpose yards.
Quarterback Johnson limped his way through most of the game on a bad ankle, refusing to leave the game, despite several attempts by the Morehouse coaching staff to coax him to the bench. Despite two interceptions and a fumble in the end zone, Johnson orchestrated impressive scoring drives that included 5 of 9 third down conversions and 3 of 3 scores on trips into the Red Zone.
The junior from Atlanta connected on a 25-yard scoring strike to Lance McGuffie, which gave the Maroon Tigers a 7-0 lead, and he ran for a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter, which pushed the Morehouse lead to 14-3.
In the largely defensive battle that went down to the wire, the Maroon Tigers had an interception, forced and recovered a fumble and held the Dragons to 173 total yards.
Linebacker James Woods had a monster game, leading the Morehouse defense, which posted nine tackles for loss and two sacks. Woods, a sophomore from Lithonia, GA, collected 12 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery.
Kimlyn Teague recorded seven tackles, with two tackles for loss, and senior Christopher Hambie had six tackles.
Morehouse finishes the season in third place in the SIAC East Division, behind Albany State and Fort Valley State.
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