Suspensions impact Morehouse-Savannah game

 September 29, 1997

By Hal Lamar

The 24 yard field goal by Savannah's Abdul Rashad in the first period was all the scoring for the entire day and all that Savannah needed...thankfully.

While Morehouse's suspensions of key ballplayers had become public by mid-week, what the Maroon Tiger coaching staff didn't know up until gametime was that practically the entire Savannah first string backfield and two of their top receivers were also sidelined with suspensions for violating Coach Daryl McNeill's curfew.

"Doug and I talked about it before the game. He told me about his suspension. Of course I didn't tell him about mine because they were in-house type things but I guess once the game got started he realized what was going on", said McNeill after the game.

Though most of the media had already been briefed in the press box by Savannah Sports Information Director Lee Pearson, the impact of the suspensions was pretty apparent to everyone after the first series of downs.

One of the more glaring absences on Savannah's side of the ball was their much heralded running back Corey Durant. The junior from Tampa, Florida was among those benched at the start of the game, though he did see limited action carrying 10 times for 21 yards. However his performance didn't hurt him statistically as he still ranks as the SIAC's leading rusher with 121.5 yards a game and 486 rushing yards in 4 games. But being benched was a sobering reminder for him that no player is an island. " Yea, I was very disappointed in myself and I assured the coach it will not happen anymore. Being on that bench for three quarters got me good and straight", said Durant.

" You have to do those things, " added McNeill, a former offensive coordinator at Savannah and Tennessee State who returned as head coach this year . At the Division One level, you hear about it every day. I'm trying to tell these guys that I coach the same way I did at the Division 1 level. You break the rules, you pay the price."

Williams also found himself in a similar situation after a bench clearing brawl two weekends ago following the team's 17-7 loss to Albany State. Following an extensive report filed in the SIAC office by referee Moses Norman, at least four key Morehouse ballplayers were suspended by SIAC Commisoner Wallace Jackson. One was kicker Marcus Shaw, a junior from Hillcrest Heights, Maryland. He was sorely missed and needed in the game against Savannah State.

In the first period, with 3:22 left in the first quarter and after a fumble recovery gave Morehouse excellent field position at the Savannah 15, Morehouse exhausted four downs and was forced to turn the ball over to the Tigers of Savannah. In the 3rd period, Morehouse managed a great drive to open the quarter but got stuck at the Savannah 4 yard line. A field goal which would have been no more than 20 yards had to be passed up and Morehouse was stopped at the 4.

This weekend, the ' House travels to Huntsville as the homecoming guest of Alabama A&M and the team will still be without the services of Shaw who was suspended for two games. Head Coach Doug Williams Williams says it is futile to try and create another kicker at this point in the season.

" If we have somebody we had confidence in from a certain range, we wouldn't have any problem putting him in", Williams stated. "We have a kid that we feel comfortable with in kicking extra points, but when you're talking field goals, you're talking anywhere from 25 to 30 yards and you need somebody who's been doing that all year long,. Marcus has been kicking the ball comfortably from 40 yards and has even hit a couple of 50s in practice. "

In other Atlanta University Center action, it was a second weekend this year of all three teams losing. Clark AU dropped a 32-14 decision to Miles, the number one team in the SIAC and Morris Brown let another one slip away when they fell 10-6 to Alabama A&M.

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