Sims Five Touchdown Passes Leads Morehouse To 42-20 Win Over Lane

ATLANTA, Georgia -- Sophomore quarterback Michael Sims (Detroit, MI) was firing on all cylinders as he threw a career-high five touchdown passes in Morehouse's 42-20 victory over SIAC conference foe, Lane College, Saturday afternoon in Jackson, Tenn.

The Maroon Tigers improve to 2-0 on the season while the Dragons fall to 0-2.

After starting off slow and falling behind 6-0 through the first quarter the MHC high-octane offense regrouped and scored 14 points in each of the remaining quarters for the convincing victory.

The teams traded punts early on and with 5:55 remaining in the first quarter the Dragons struck first when running back Joshua Jeffrey broke out on a 58-yard touchdown giving LC the early 6-0 lead. Morehouse got going in the start of the second quarter when Sims led the offense on a six-play, 69 yard drive, that took one minute and 51 seconds as he found senior Amyr Smith (Atlanta, GA) in the left corner of the endzone on a 25-yard touchdown pass giving MHC a 7-6 lead. Jeffrey would strike again this time from 68-yards out putting Lane on top 12-6. The Maroon Tigers responded and with just 35 seconds remaining before the end of the half Sims connected with senior tight-end Ryan Edwards(Atlanta, GA) on a 12-yard TD pass giving MHC a 14-12 lead before going into the locker room.

The second-half was all Morehouse. With 4:29 remaining in the third quarter junior wide receiver Tremell Gooden (Atlanta, GA) made an acrobatic catch in the back of the endzone giving MHC a 21-12 advantage. After forcing a turnover on the next possession it didn't take long for the Maroon Tigers to get back in the endzone as MHC for the second consecutive week went into their back of tricks as Sims found sophomore running back Santo Dunn (Griffin, GA) by himself on a triple reverse from 28 yards out extending the Morehouse lead to 28-12.

With 12:19 remaining in the game Sims threw his fifth touchdown pass of the game as he connected with Edwards for the second time on a 15-yard strick down the seam making the score 35-12. Sophomore running back, Frank Bailey, Jr. (Atlanta, GA) would close out the Maroon Tiger scoring when he plunged it in from two-yards out increasing the MHC lead to 42-12. Lane would add a late touchdown and two-point conversion for the final 42-20 score.

Sims finished the day 13-of-23 for 243 yards passing and five touchdowns while also rushing for 39 yards on six carries. Six different receivers caught passes and were led by Edwards who caught three passes for 36 yards and two touchdowns and Gooden who also caught three balls for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively Morehouse was again led by junior linebacker Julien Turner (Pickerington, OH) who finished with 10 tackles (five solo) and junior defensive back Edward Nelson (Chester, PA) who finished with eight tackles, four tackles-for-loss, and one forced fumble on the day. Freshman safety Ben Goins (Winterhaven, FL) again had a strong performance finishing with eight tackles while junior transfer, Kelvin Murray chipped in with four tackles, one tackle-for-loss, and an interception.

The MHC offense outgained LC 363-to-259 and were 3-for-3 in the redzone. After allowing almost 500 passing yards the previous week, the Maroon Tiger defense buckled down and held Lane to just 106 passing yards this week.

Morehouse welcomes SIAC western division foe Central State University (OH) this upcoming Saturday Sept. 15 for their home opener. The game has been tabbed as the BLACKOUT game. Kick-off is set for 5 p.m. at B.T. Harvey Stadium.

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