Morehouse gains more exposure with playoff run, pro prospects

The Morehouse football program, under coach Rich Freeman, continues to build a higher Division II profile. After offensive tackle Ramon Harewood was selected in last year's NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens, the Maroon Tigers made the first playoff appearance in school history.

The pros have shown interest in at least five more Maroon Tigers, who are considered late-round draft picks or possible free agents, and 11 teams have been in contact with defensive tackle Derrin "The Freight Train" Nettles, the SIAC defensive player of the year.

"I hadn't heard a whole lot lately," Freeman said. "We spoke with someone from the Saints earlier. They were real high on him. I really think that Nettles, if he doesn't get drafted, he'll get into somebody's camp. We are talking about kid who bench-presses 500 pounds."

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Morehouse loses to Wingate in playoffs

WINGATE, N.C. -- Morehouse got plenty of breaks in Saturday afternoon’s 63-41 loss to Wingate in the first round of the NCAA Division II football playoffs.

The Maroon Tigers (8-3) recovered three fumbles, returning one for a touchdown, and set up another score with an interception. And they rolled up 471 yards of offense. Running back David Carter rushed for 167 yards and two more touchdowns on 29 carries, and quarterback Byron Ingram passed for 168 yards and ran for a touchdown.

But it wasn’t enough to stop a high-powered Wingate offense, which shook off a 17-7 deficit at the end of the first quarter and ended Morehouse’s first football postseason in front of nearly 4,000 fans at Irwin Belk Stadium.

Haffly's 7 touchdown passes get Bulldogs' offense back on track

WINGATE, N.C. - Sooner or later, the Wingate Bulldogs' football team scores some points. The South Atlantic Conference champions rode its high-powered offense to its first conference title. And in their first-ever NCAA Division II playoff game on Saturday, the Bulldogs (9-2) shook off early mistakes and a 10-point first-quarter deficit to blitz Morehouse 63-41 in front of about 4,000 fans at Irwin Belk Stadium.

"We want to score every time we get the ball, and we believe that we can," said Wingate quarterback Cody Haffly, who passed for 477 yards and a school record seven touchdowns as the Bulldogs rolled up 614 yards. "We're a resilient, veteran team and we didn't panic when we got behind."

Wingate trailed the Maroon Tigers (8-3), also making their first playoff appearance, 17-7 at...

ATTENDANCE: 4000

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Morehouse defeats Clark Atlanta

Morehouse had just enough grit and talent to gut out an ugly 17-7 win over Clark Atlanta on Saturday. With the win, Morehouse (7-2, 5-2 SIAC) kept alive its slim chances of playing in the postseason. Clark (4-5, 3-4) will play Benedict on Saturday for a shot at a .500 season.

Morehouse kicker Ian Mullen kicked a 42-yard field goal in the third quarter to put Morehouse ahead, 10-7, a lead they would not relinquish. Saturday was the culmination of a rough week for the kicker, who missed two key extra points last week in a 13-12 loss to Albany State.

“I was happy for him,” Morehouse coach Rich Freeman said. “I think it did a lot for him because he was really down.”

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Albany State comes back, edges Morehouse

Albany State scored a touchdown with 18 seconds to play Saturday for a come-from-behind 13-12 win over Morehouse.

The Golden Rams’ Ronnie Childs caught a 6-yard pass from Stanley Jennings in the corner of the end zone to keep Albany State undefeated. Morehouse players -- and fans who were congregated just off the field -- protested loudly that Childs’ foot was out of bounds on the catch. A scuffed foot mark on the end line was Morehouse’s claim as evidence. The back official saw it and called the head referee over to see the mark, but the head referee was having none of that. The play stood.

“It hurts really bad,” Morehouse coach Rich Freeman said. “I thought we were one first down away from getting the win, and we took a...

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Morehouse junior Lewis Eichelberger wowed the audience attending the Dedicatory Performance in the Emma and Joe Adams Concert Hall in the new Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College. Lewis was accompanied by professor Dr. Jefferson Ethridge on piano. Director Spike Lee took film classes from young Eichelberger's father, Dr. Herb Eichelberger, a professor at Clark Atlanta University.

Morehouse 38, Stillman 34: Late turnover costly for Stillman Tigers

TUSCALOOSA | Turnovers kept Stillman College in the game, but it was a costly turnover made by the Tigers’ offense that put the game out of reach and helped Morehouse College to a 38-24 win Saturday.

With just under four minutes left, Stillman got the ball back trailing by a touchdown. Quarterback Desmond Holloway fumbled the snap, and Olajawaun Gooch picked it up for Morehouse and ran it back 35 yards for a touchdown.

“That’s the nature of our football team,” Morehouse head coach Rich Freeman said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are very capable of making big plays, explosive plays.”

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Tuskegee defeats Morehouse

COLUMBUS, GA -- Nykeem Barton wanted to make his final Tuskegee-Morehouse Football Classic a lot like all the others in which he has played. The senior running back rushed for three touchdowns and No. 18 Tuskegee's defense squashed a second-half rally to hand No. 16 Morehouse its first loss of the season, 31-15 Saturday at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium.

It was the seventh straight win in the series for Tuskegee (5-1, 4-1 SIAC), which improved to 66-27-7 all-time against Morehouse (5-1, 4-1). Barton scored on a 2-yard run on the Golden Tigers’ first possession and his 7-yard run, and subsequent two-point conversion run, in the second quarter put Tuskegee ahead 21-2 at halftime.

Tuskegee Downs No. 16 Morehouse College 

The high-scoring offense failed to launch for the first time this season and Morehouse fell, 31-15, to the Tuskegee Golden Tigers, in the 75th Annual Tuskegee-Morehouse Football Classic.

 Morehouse's 15 points and 213 total yards were season lows, for the team that averaged 40 points and 366 yards per game. The Maroon Tigers dropped to 5-1; Tuskegee improved to 5-1.

Tuskegee jumped out to a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. An eight-yard touchdown pass, early in the second quarter, pushed the lead to 13-0. But the Morehouse defense blocked the point-after attempt and Darrius Williams returned the football for a two-point score.

A seven-yard touchdown run gave the Golden Tigers a 21-2 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the teams traded scores. Morehouse linebacker Charlie Wilson blocked a punt that Samuel Gilmore returned 36-yards for a touchdown. Tuskegee kicked a 22-yard field goal.

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