Inside Hotlanta and the SIAC

By Hal Lamar
Photos by Patsy Collier-Lamar

Miles becomes the first true champ of the SIAC

11th hour field goal wins it for the Golden Bears

Miles College
2011 SIAC Football Champions

ATLANTA, Ga- In 26 meetings between the Miles Golden Bears of Fairfield Alabama (home of baseball hall of famer Willie Mays) and the Rams of Dougherty County’s Albany State University, the Bears have beaten the Rams only four times.

You can now make that five thanks to the toe of sophomore Patton Chambers of Gasden, Alabama. His 29-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining in the contest lifted Miles to a upsetting 20-17 win over highly favored and defending conference champ ASU before an inaugural crowd of 6374.. The win puts the “bear paws” on SIAC and football history by making Miles the first “true” conference champs. 

FrenchTLewishat didn’t escape the school’s president, George French. “This feels fabulous,” he told INSIDE following the win. “ The college made a major investment with this coach and team and it paid off.” Frankly, few people gave Miles a snowball’s chance in hell of beating the Rams who dominated most of their opponents offensively and were incredibly stingy surrendering rushing yards.

Perhaps that’s why Miles celebrated junior running back Jordan Lewis, a juco transfer from Samford University, was surprised when he was able to amass 82 rushing yards. “This is the number one rushing defense in the country,” he said. Coming in, we knew it wouldn’t be an easy task but we kept telling ourselves that we had to get those want-to yards.”

The scoring drive that won all the marbles for Miles started with 3:20 left in the game and right after Albany State’s attempt to break a 17-17  tie with a 38-yard field goal failed. Behind the quarterbacking of junior  David Thomas, Miles worked the oval from their own 31 to the Albany State 12. Despite having four fresh downs to try and get into the end zone for 6, Miles head coach Reginald Ruffin decided to attempt the win with a field goal on 1st and 10.

Chambers“I was nervous,” said Chambers who had successfully kicked a 34-yarder at the end of the third quarter. “ It wasn’t too long of a field goal and, even with me being a little nervous, I knew I could make that.”Ruffin

“The idea was that we wanted to make sure we could run the clock down to one second,” Ruffin said. “ But the referee overheard us talking about getting into position and calling a timeout .He assumed I had called timeout. I didn’t but it still worked out for the best. Our motto all year was stay on course, stay focused. You saw the product. We stayed on course, we were focused and the results speak for themselves.”

Despite their loss to Miles, Albany State was selected to play in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoff.  ASU will face North Greenville this saturday at noon.  The playoff selection should pave the way for Morehouse, which finished 2001 at 8-2 and the second best SIAC record, to be invited to Pioneer Bowl 13 on December 3 in Columbus, GA

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Meanwhile, Stillman College ended its 2011 grid campaign on a losing note to Concordia College of Selma, Alabama 12-7. The Hornets were Stillman’s homecoming opponent. What might have been a 12th man, so to speak, for Concordia was defensive coordinator LC Cole. He was former head coach at Stillman and familiar with their offensive and defensive schemes.

The loss was Stillman’s third in the last four games of the season. Prior to that, the Tigers ruled the SIAC west until their 9-7 loss to Miles on November 3. Yet, the Tigers under first year coach Teddy Keaton, finished with a winning 7-4 mark. Concordia, meanwhile, managed to finish 6-4.

MOREHOUSE’S CARTER NAMED SIAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Lamar with SIAC Player of the Year David CarterMorehouse’s celebrated running back David Carter was chosen the player of the year in the SIAC. The metro Atlanta native finished the 2011 regular season with 1495 yards and 19 touchdowns. He was also named first team All-SIAC along with four other Morehouse gridders. Clark-Atlanta University had one player, defensive lineman Darel Strong selected. Kentucky State led the pack with six of its players selected first team all conference…..

SIAC HOOPS-Morehouse kicked off basketball 2011 with two exhibition games against the University of Georgia and then an historic contest with the University of Kentucky.  The Marooners lost to UGA, 74-50, November 4 and then 125-40 to UK on Monday, November 7 . The Tigers played before over 20,000 fans at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The game was actually arranged in Atlanta during a meeting between Morehouse head coach Grady Brewer and Kentucky Coach John Calipari .”Brew” agreed to allow the Kentucky coach to take a picture with his team in exchange for scheduling an exhibition game. Several weeks before the contest, Brewer told INSIDE that he wanted to expose the Tiger cagers to “big time Division I basketball” and considering Kentucky, it doesn’t get too much bigger than that.

Last weekend, Morehouse commenced their regular season playing the University of North Alabama and West Georgia. The host Tigers were edged by West Georgia 50-49 and lost 73-67 to UNA…. Clark-AU also commenced its 2011 with a 76-73 loss to UNA and 79-53 loss to West Georgia. It was the opening game for new CAU Head coach Dale Brown…..Speaking of CAU, their former basketball coach Daryl Jacobs opened his first season with the Trojans beating Towson State 50-43 in an exhibition game. His team then dropped two games 73-71 in overtime to Shepherd University and 73-71 to West Virginia State…….

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Inside Hotlanta and the SIAC

By Hal Lamar
Photos by Patsy Collier-Lamar

It’s Miles vs. Albany State in first SIAC grid championship game

The Golden Bears of Miles College of Fairfield, Alabama (Willie Mays’ hometown) and the Rams of Albany State University of Dougherty County Georgia  will square off in the 1st SIAC Championship game  Saturday, November 12 at Panther Stadium on the campus of Clark-AU.  The game was originally scheduled for Atlanta’s Lakewood Stadium. But renovations to the 40 year old facility weren’t completed and the thinking was not to try holding the game there this year in the interest of player and fan safety.

Now, the best available records provided to ole’ INSIDE  shows the series between the schools began in 1985 and played year by year since 1987. ASU holds a commanding 22-4 lead in the series. During the 2011 regular season, ASU got by Miles 34-27.

MEANWHILE IN THE REST OF DA CONFERENCE-The Maroon Tigers of Morehouse College won its final grid match of the season by coming from behind to defeat Kentucky State 28-24 on Saturday, November 5 in Frankfort, Ky.

A crowd of 6729 watched as KSU overcame a 21-7 deficit at half time to take a 24-21 lead with 5:49 remaining in the 4th period.

CarterMorehouse then assembled an 11-play, 62-yard drive which ate up 3:42 seconds of clock to score on a four yard run by junior David Carter. Once again, Carter came through for the Morehouse offense, scoring three touchdowns and rushing for 200 yards. Sixty of those yards came in the second quarter which accounted for the Tigers’ third touchdown of the game.

MasseyKSU scored three times in the second half and twice in the fourth quarter which included a crowd-pleasing 51-yard interception return by senior defensive back Keith Massey. KSU’s final possession of the game stalled at their own 45-yard line. Incomplete passes and a stubborn Morehouse defense led by all-conference linebacker Charlie Wilson forced the Thorobreds to surrender the oval to Morehouse with 1:00 remaining in the contest.

The win gives Morehouse a season-ending 8-2 record and provides head coach Richard Freeman his 4th straight winning season since arriving on campus in 2007. Morehouse is currently ranked 8th in the NCAA Division II’s so called “Super” region 2. The win might push the Tigers up to 7th place but they would need to get to sixth place or better to qualify for a shot the Division II playoffs. But their second best finish in the SIAC will likely earn them a trip to Pioneer Bowl 13, December 3 in Columbus, Georgia.

The Marooners might have enjoyed a trip to this weekend’s SIAC championship game had Fort Valley managed to defeat Albany State last weekend at the 22nd annual Fountain City Classic in Columbus, Georgia.

For a while, it seemed the Wildcats, who were pasted 49-12 on October 30 by Morehouse, would pull off the upset.

In fact, Valley held a 14-0 lead through 12:22 of the second period. But ASU’s celebrated quarterback Stanley Jennings led the Rams to 10 quick points the remainder of the quarter and trimmed the Wildcat lead to four at half time.

ASU then took a 17-14 lead in the third period when freshman running back Adrian Alexander scored on a 69-yard run from scrimmage. It was the second of three touchdowns for the Macon, Georgia native.

The 38-29 win gives ASU the SIAC eastern division title and the chance to come to Atlanta for the SIAC championship game against the Bears of Miles College. It will also likely move the Rams to that sixth spot in the region poll and give them another shot at the Division II playoffs for the seventh straight year.

Meanwhile, Clark-AU, which will host the championship game, ended 2011 losing to Stillman College 16-6.. CAU scored first midway through the first quarter when junior Triston Hazelton recovered a blocked punt and raced four yards to the end zone. That ended Panther scoring the entire evening., Stillman scored 16 unanswered points, nine of which came via the toe of place-kicker Huerta Perez via field goals of 23, 48 and 28 yards. The lone Stillman touchdown came on an 8-yard pass from quarterback Dondre Purnell to Deandre Holley.

The win gives Stillman a 7-3 mark. For most of the season, the Tigers led the SIAC West and were thought a shoo-in for the division title. But then, they took a 52-3 drubbing from Fort Valley and a 9-7 loss to Miles which gave the Bears the title.……Tuskegee is ending the 2011 season better than they started it. The Golden Tigers defeated Miles 27-25 in a homecoming victory witnessed by a crowd of 26,645. The Golden Tigers finish the season on Thanksgiving Day against Alabama State.…Lane ended their 2011 season on a happy note by defeating Benedict 19-13…..

XTRA POINTS: The city of Atlanta has renamed one of its parks to honor civil rights icon Rev. James Orange. A lot was said about the man we nicknamed “Shack Daddy” at the dedication ceremonies last week. What a lot of people don’t know about Orange was that before he marched with Martin Luther King Junior, helped instigate the Selma to Montgomery march and later become a union organizer, he was a football star for the Thundering Herd of Parker High School in his hometown of Birmingham Alabama. Orange was a down lineman and played alongside NFL Hall of Famer Junious “Buck” Buchanan .He attended Dallas, Texas’s Bishop College for awhile and was encouraged to try out for the Detroit Lions. He did and made the team, even getting a signing bonus. But during a visit home in 1963, he wondered into the 16th Street Baptist Church. “I sat right on the front pew,” he once told me. “Ralph David Abernathy was speaking. Then, for some reason, he pointed to me and said I would be leading the next day’s march. After that, I never returned to Detroit. I don’t regret the decision.” Patsy and I visited Shack’s hospital room a week before his passing in mid-February 2008. We exchanged “hey leader” greetings, chatted for awhile and then prayed for his recovery. The creator had other plans for my friend, however, and called him home to his reward. Now, thanks to his friends and the leadership of this city, he will never be forgotten.

Rev Orange

MY PICK TO WIN THE 1ST SIAC CHAMPIONSHIP:
Albany State by 3

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Inside Hotlanta and the SIAC

By Hal Lamar
Photos by Patsy Collier-Lamar

Morehouse destroys Fort Valley in Fort Valley

FT VALLEY, Ga.- For a head coach at any level of football, being trounced by an opponent on your own home field and in front of your own fans is a most humiliating experience. Fort Valley head coach Donald Pittman was forced to accept a double dose of humble pie Saturday night October 29 by a Morehouse team that scored six times in the game to defeat the Wildcats 49-12.

A mostly partisan crowd of 6,543 sat and shivered in the chilly air to watch as the Morehouse Maroon Tiger machine picked Fort Valley’s defense clean, especially in the first period.

By the start of the second quarter, Morehouse was leading 29-0 with junior David Carter leading the charge. He scored twice in the first period on runs of 45 and 22 yards.

The 62-degree temperature at game time dropped considerably as the Tigers continued to throw cold water on Fort Valley. The Wildcats, in fact, didn’t score until the 10:54 mark of the second period on a 41 yard pass from Antonio Henton to junior Christopher Slaughter. Henton, a home-towner from Peach County High School, provided what little life Fort Valley’s offense could muster, throwing for 200 yards and two touchdowns. He was also intercepted five times and sacked twice by Morehouse’s Scottie Williams (Williams, by the way, is the NCAA Division II’s second leading sacker).Carter

By halftme, Morehouse was leading 42-12. Head Coach Rich Freeman pulled most of his first-teammers in the second half but even his second tier players managed to score one touchdown via a 10 yard run in the third quarter by senior Mychal Harrison. The TD was set up via Carter’s final rushing performance of the evening, a 76 yard run from scrimmage that set up the final Maroon Tiger points at the 10-yard line.

”The offensive line opened up some big holes,” said Carter, whose 351 yard performance surely established an SIAC single game conference record  “ I never dreamed we would score this many points against Fort Valley,” he added. “They have a much better team than that. We spent the entire week studying the team, though. We were ready when we came here.”

Valley quarterback HentonHenton said the team didn’t give up but committed too many turnovers. In fact, Fort Valley had a near-fatal attack of the ‘boo-boo” flu in the first half, committing five faux pass. Three of them resulted in Morehouse scores. The occasional cheers from the Fort Valley side of Wildcat Stadium soon turned into jeers. In fact, some of those boo-birds could be heard from the Wildcat bench as frustrated players were observed by some media pushing, shoving and being verbal against each other.

The frustration, however, was understandable. The loss was an irony considering that just a week before, the Wildcats flattened former SIAC west-leading Stillman 52-3 behind the three touchdown performance of freshman quarterback Cameron Pearson (he was 0-3-0 for 0 yards against Morehouse). This was the first time since 1990 that Fort Valley had lost to both Atlanta University Center schools Morehouse and CAU in the same season. This was also the worst pasting inflicted on a Fort Valley team since 2007 when the Wildcats were wiped out 69-0 by Valdosta State, again on Fort Valley’s own home turf!

CAU DROPS SIXTH GAME 24-3 TO TUSKEGEE

Clark-AU suffered its sixth straight loss last Saturday, dropping its latest contest to Tuskegee, 24-3. The Panthers took a 3-0 lead in the first period on a 50 yard field goal by Kemuel Lawrence which was the sum total of CAU scoring for the day. Tuskegee responded with 21 unanswered points in the second, third and fourth periods. They were led by the two touchdown performance of ‘Skegee running back DeMario Pippen who rushed for 92 total yards. Statistically, CAU kept pace with Tuskegee and out-passed the Golden Tigers 141-116.CAU’s Kiece Crite led all tacklers with 10, seven of which were solo shots.

Carver College Coach Carter (L) and Pres. CrummieTHE REST OF THE CONFERENCE: Albany State maintained its hold on the SIAC’s eastern division first place standings with a 37-13 win over Benedict. The Rams led 31-0 at halftime but saw Benedict amass 13 points in the third period to trim the ASU lead to 18…Miles clinched the SIAC western division title on Thursday, October 27 with a 9-7 win over Stillman. A fourth quarter interception by Miles’ Tyrell Kinder helped preserve the Golden Bears lead….Kentucky State won its second straight 17-6 over Lane College….

XTRA POINTS: Benedict, the basketball team predicted to finish first in the SIAC, among men’s teams, got surprised during an exhibition game in Atlanta against Carver College. The latter, a small theological institution coached by 14 year veteran Martin Carter of Atlanta, defeated Benedict by 19 points. The game with Benedict was a dream-come-true for Carver President Robert Crummie, who is an alum of Benedict…FrancisYou longtime NFL and Atlanta Falcon football fans might remember the name Wallace Francis. The Louisiana native and graduate of UAPB.(called Arkansas AM&N when he graduated in 1973) is now national director of Ambassadors for Christ International USA based in Marietta Georgia. Find out more about AFC by visiting afci.us or writing Wallace at CLOAKING

THIS WEEK’S GAMES AND PICKS
Stillman over CAU (Thursday night game)
Tuskegee over Miles
Morehouse over Kentucky State
Albany State over Fort Valley
Benedict over Lane

Got an item? Contact Hal -> CLOAKING

Inside Hotlanta and the SIAC

By Hal Lamar
Photos by Patsy Collier-Lamar

Morehouse wins homecoming with come from behind win

The Morehouse Maroon Tigers gave nearly 20,000 homecoming revelers every reason to keep their eyes on the playing field as they came from behind to beat Benedict 37-31 October 22 in a nail-biter at BT Harvey Stadium.

Trailing 31-29 late in the fourth quarter, the Marooners took control of the oval at the Benedict 48 with 3:48 remaining. Thirteen plays later, Morehouse was at the 11 and seemingly within field goal range for junior kicker Brandon Hoffman, In lieu, Morehouse head coach Rich Freeman elected to go for the end zone on third and 10 with 24 seconds remaining.