SSU Stumbles Against Morehouse

October 13, 2007
ATLANTA, Ga- Christian Green scored two touchdowns and rushed for 69 yards on nine carries to lead Morehouse to a 32-14 win over Savannah State at B. T. Harvey Stadium before 4,250 fans.

Morehouse improved to 5-2 while Savannah State dropped its fourth straight and fell to 1-5.

It was the first time Morehouse defeated SSU since 1995.

The contest gave almost two dozen Savannah State players from the Atlanta area a chance to play in front of family and friends.

Both teams played give-a-way in the early going. Morehouse fumbled a punt that was recovered by SSU at the Morehouse 30. Savannah State gave the ball right back as Derrick Scott intercepted at JaCorey Kilcrease pass at the 10 yard yard and returned it 55 yards to the SSU 35.

The Maroon Tigers drove to the SSU three before their drive stalled and had to settle on a 20 yard field goal from Micah Streiff with 6:23 on the clock.

On the first play of the second quarter, SSU's Javorris Jackson intercepted a Christian Sterling pass at the Morehouse 48 and returned it to the Maroon Tigers 37.

Savannah State ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Morehouse 34 after failing to convert a fourth and seven situation.

Morehouse took over and marched 66 yards in seven plays as Green scored on a 33 yard run with 9:10 on the clock. The PAT failed and Morehouse led 9-0.

SSU thwarted another Morehouse drive when Antwan Allen intercepted a pass at the Savannah State 15 with 3:47 to go before the half. SSU could not move the ball and had to punt it back to Morehouse.

Morehouse took over at its own 16 and used several big plays that resulted in a three yard touchdown run by Kelvin Moore with 25 seconds left before the half.

Morehouse led 15-0 at intermission.

Savannah State's offense sputtered early in the second half but a roughing the kicker penalty on Morehouse gave SSU new life and they took advantage of the opportunity. The result was a 34 yard touchdown pass from Greg McCrary to Justin Babb. Luis Justiniano kicked the extra point and SSU trailed 15-7 with 9:43 left in the third quarter.

Morehouse answered as Streiff kicked a 35 yard field goal with 7:50 remaining in the quarter to give the Maroon Tigers a 18-7 advantage.

SSU was unable to move the ball on their next possession and was forced to punt.

Jeremy Johnson's punt was only 27 yards but it was fumbled by Morehouse's Quincy Avery and recovered by SSU's Frank Usher IV at the Maroon Tiger 27.

It took SSU just four plays to produce as McCrary threw a 21 yard scoring pass to Deleon Hollinger with 2:48 remaining in the third. The PAT was good and SSU trailed 18-14.

Morehouse took the kickoff and marched 66 yards in seven plays as Richie Jones scored on a one yard run to expand their lead to 25-14 with 14:57 left in the game.

Savannah State drove to the Morehouse 22 on their next series but McCrary's pass was picked off by Quintin Ramos at the Maroon Tigers' five yard line. Morehouse took over and marched 80 yards in nine plays and the capped the drive on Green's two yard scoring run with 5:15 remaining. Streiff's PAT was good and Morehouse led 32-14.

Morehouse compiled 451 net yards of offense but was penalized 11 times for 99 yards. Savannah State had a balanced offensive attack with 102 yards rushing and 102 yards receiving but was penalized 12 times for 110 yards.

McCrary led the SSU offense with 112 total yards. He rushed 10 times for 40 yards and completed five of 11 passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns. Hollinger caught two passes for 25 yards and a score. Calvin Leonard paced the defense with 12 tackles while Chris Herans and Allen collected 10 tackles each.

Moore led Morehouse with 71 yards rushing while Sterling passed for 216 yards. Savannah native James Steadman caught five passes for 58 yards for the Maroon Tigers. Defensively, Mario Lane had nine tackles.

Savannah State will return home on October 20 to face the Eagles of North Carolina Central. NCCU, who is playing their first year of Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), has a 5-2 record after defeating North Greenville 17-14 on October 13.

Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.