Howard University cools down red-hot Morgan State in thriller appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Morgan State entered Week 8 as one of the hottest teams in HBCU football. It seemed as if all the pieces were coming together under head coach Damon Wilson, with Cameron Edge emerging as a talented signal caller who can lead the offense and a defense that can carry the team as a contender. But Howard University has looked particularly different under Ted White.
White is one of the program’s greatest players, and his era saw immense success and history-making feats. He brought that same pedigree to Howard in his first year as head coach, leading a team previously expected to finish near the bottom of the conference, and now they believe they can make it back to Atlanta for the Celebration Bowl. This win further proved that theory.
The game wasn’t a pretty, high-scoring affair. It was a gritty battle amongst two conference rivals. Howard earned the hand-in-overtime victory. Morgan State jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, but Howard answered with 6 points in the second. Morgan State then scored a third-quarter touchdown to go up 13-6. At the start of the fourth quarter, Cameron Edge found Alex Simmons for a 14-yard touchdown, putting Morgan State up 20-6.
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It seemed the Bears would continue their hot start and put themselves in the driver’s seat in the MEAC, but Howard would not lay down. Isaiah Freeman, one of three quarterbacks who saw playing time for the Bison, ripped off a 2-yard run for a touchdown to put Howard back on the board, 20-13. Then Billy Roberson III caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Isaiah Freeman to tie the game at 20 after Matt Concord kicked the PAT.
Morgan State got the ball back and had a chance to score in regulation, but ultimately failed and had to punt back to Howard University to give them the chance to win. Howard also couldn’t put together a game-winning drive, so the game went to overtime. Morgan State got the ball first and looked to put themselves in position to score, but Cameron Edge threw an interception to Ben Chandler IV, who ran back an 87-yard pick-six to end a stellar game that will surely reverberate around the MEAC.
Howard now faces North Carolina Central next Saturday, while Morgan State prepares for a high-stakes matchup with two-time defending MEAC champion South Carolina State, led by Chennis Berry.
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