Morehouse Remains Undefeated With 23-21 Comeback Victory Over Kentucky State

FRANKFORT, Kentucky -- Morehouse came back from a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter to remain undefeated and beat Kentucky State, 23-21, Saturday evening in Frankfort, Ky.

The Maroon Tigers remain undefeated and improve their record to 5-0 (1-0 SIAC) while Kentucky State falls to 0-5 (0-2 SIAC).

"We had some difficulty getting the offense going this week due to the field conditions," said head coach Rich Freeman. "I thought our guys did a tremendous job staying in the game and pulling out this hard fought victory against a very well coached team."

With their 5-0 record to begin the season, the Maroon Tigers have their best start since 2010 when they made a run into the NCAA Division II playoffs before falling in the first round to Wingate.

For the second straight week the Maroon Tigers used some second-half magic to pull out the victory. This week, on a fourth and one deep in KSU's territory with less than two minutes remaining in the ball game,
coach Freeman decided to put the ball in sophomore running back Santo Dunns (Griffin, GA) hands, and he didn't disappoint as he ran it for 13 yards to the KSU nine yard line sealing the victory for Morehouse.

"We wanted to win the game upfront," said Freeman. "We needed a first down and they were out of timeouts and our offensive line was beating their defensive line so we decided to go for it. They opened a tremendous hole for Santo and he picked up the first down. I'm proud of those guys upfront, they propelled us to victory tonight."

The Thorobreds scored on their first two drives of the game as Jules St. Ge threw touchdown passes of four to Demetrius Anderson and 24 yards to Jordan Level giving KSU an early 14-0 first quarter lead.

The Maroon Tigers responded with an 18-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 8:41 capped by a seven yard touchdown run by Dunn cutting the Thorobred lead to 14-7.

After a muffed punt by Kentucky State gave the ball deep in KSU territory, sophomore kicker Fernando Sdelamora (Fairburn, GA) connected on a 36-yard field goal with 1:37 remaining before the half making the score 14-10.

Morehouse capitalized on a third quarter interception by junior transfer Kelvin Murray (Orlando, FL) which he returned 14-yards to the Thorobred one yard line allowing the Maroon Tigers to take their first lead of the ball game when Dunn ran it in from one yard out giving MHC a 16-14 lead.

The Maroon Tigers extended their lead to 23-14 when sophomore quarter back Michael Sims (Detroit, MI) connected with senior captain and tight end Ryan Edwards (Atlanta, GA) on an touchdown 15-yard strike.

The Thorobreds made the game interesting as Malik Saunders scored on a seven yard run with 4:32 remaining cutting the lead to 23-21.

BOX SCORE

Dunn led Morehouse on the ground with 98 yards rushing and two touchdowns while junior wide receiver Trevor Gichaba finished with a game-high seven catches for 76 yards including a big 24 yard catch in the second half. Sims finished 17-of-24 for 164 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively senior captains Antonio Johnson (Birmingham, AL) and Treyvon Luckey (Shreveport, LA) each finished with five tackles a piece. Murray finished with three tackles and an interception.

Morehouse finished with more first downs 18-to-14, and more rushing yards 147-to-133 while both teams had 164 yards passing. MHC won the total yardage battle 311-to-297.

The Maroon Tigers take their undefeated record to Columbus, Ga. next weekend as they take on the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers in the 83rd Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic on Oct. 6 at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium. Kick-Off is set for 2 p.m. ET.

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