Morehouse Beats Miles 23-21 on Sims-to-Gooden Hail Mary

COURTESY: SIAC SPORTS

CHICAGO, Illinois -- Morehouse College beat Miles College 23-21 in the XXI Chicago Football Classic when sophomore quarterback Michael Sims (Detroit, MI) connected with senior wide receiver Tremell Gooden (Atlanta, GA) on hail mary on final play of the game at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill. in front of 20,093 fans on Saturday afternoon.

With the win the Maroon Tigers (4-0) stay undefeated while the Golden Bears (0-4) remain winless on the season.

Down 21-17 with only 1:10 remaining in the ball game and no timeouts MHC drove the ball 84 yards on eight plays capped by the Sims-to-Gooden hail mary giving Morehouse the victory.

The Maroon Tigers got off to a slow start as Miles scored on the opening drive of the game when quarterback Daniel Smith scored on a quarterback keeper from 49 yards out giving MC the early 7-0 lead. The Golden Bears continued to put pressure on MHC and extended their lead to 14-0 when Smith connected with Leonard Tyree on a 27 yard TD pass.


BOX SCORE

Morehouse finally got on the board when sophomore kicker Fernando Sdelamora (Fairburn, GA) connected on a 24 yard field goal with 11:29 remaining in the first half making the score 14-3. MHC got closer when sophomore running back Santo Dunn (Griffin, GA) capped an eight play, 45-yard drive that took 3:49 off the clock with a four-yard plunge cutting the lead to 14-10 going into the half.

The Golden Bears provided the only scoring of the 3rd quarter with another Smith-to-Tyree connection from 37 yards out extending the MC lead to 21-10 going into the 4th quarter.

After an MC turnover sophomore fullback Tre'Vion Baker (Atlanta, GA) plunged it in from the two yard line cutting the Miles lead to 21-17 with 14:55 remaining in the ball game.

Dunn again led the Morehouse offensive attack after rushing for 150 on only 18 carries and a touchdown while Sims completed 18-of-35 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown. Tamarick Vanover Jr. led the receiving corp with four catches, for 58 yards while Gooden finished with two catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, senior linebacker Julien Turner (Pickerington, OH) again led the Maroon Tiger defense as he finished with a a team-high 11 tackles and two tackles-for-loss while senior defensive end Antonio Johnson (Birmingham, AL) chipped in with eight tackles. Transfer defensive end William Callaway (Scottsdale, GA) had four tackles and one sack in the winning effort.

Morehouse out-gained Miles 417-to-252 in total offense with 200 coming on the ground. MHC was 3-for-4 in the redzone while holding MC to 0-for-2. The Maroon Tigers also turned the ball over for the first time this year on two Sims interceptions.

The Maroon Tigers will kick-off SIAC conference play next weekend as they travel to Frankfort, Ky to take on the Thorobreds of Kentucky State University. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

MOREHOUSE COLLEGE MAROON TIGER SPORTS INFORMATION