Inside Hotlanta and the SIAC

By Hal Lamar

Morehouse plays spoiler; upsets Kentucky State

Morehouse College managed to bring the winning exploits of Kentucky State to a screeching halt Saturday, October 5 at the Maroon Tigers' Bertram Towns Harvey Stadium with an upset 33-25 win before 4373 mostly partisan fans.Freeman
For Morehouse, the win was a great relief for Coach Richard Freeman and his beleaguered elevens who hadn't tasted the sweetness of dwelling in the winners' circle since edging Edwards Waters College on the road 26-20 on September 7.

Clark-AU, meanwhile, came close to spoiling homecoming for Miles College on the same weekend but wound up losing nonetheless 31-27. A homecoming crowd of 11,819 mostly partisan fans packed out Albert Sloan Stadium in Fairfield, Alabama but were forced to watch most of the game with baited breath as the visiting Panthers took the lead twice in the contest and, in fact, had an uphill climb as the cardinal and black Cats held on out front until the 10 minute mark of the fourth when Reggie Ruffin's elevens took the lead, then scored twice more in the fourth.

CAU, however, missed two sweet scoring opps in the 2nd half , one of them deep into the fourth period which might have won it for them. Despite the loss, CAU's celebrated quarterback Charles Stafford continued to throw down with a 371 yard passing day and three touchdowns. He was also sacked five times which bodes badly for the Panthers' offensive line, a point that likely won't be lost in the off-season and commencement of recruiting for first year head football coach Tim Bowens.Bowens

ELSEWHERE IN THE SIAC: Savannah State, which has enjoyed success back in the SIAC after wallowing in the agony of defeat while in the MEAC all those years, lost for the first time since the opening of the season 24-19 on the road against Charleston-Southern. The Tigers do remain in first place in the SIAC east with the Albany State Rams a close second with an identical 2-0 conference and 3-2 overall record. Savannah State maintained the lead over their hosts until 11:10 of the fourth period when the Bucanners scored twice. Their last minute points saved them from an embarrasing homecoming loss.

Speaking of spoiling homecoming, the Lane Dragons overame a 24-6 halftime deificit, managed to climb to within three points of the lead in the third before the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Lions pulled away which saved their hosts from the pie-in-the-face of a homecoming loss.

Tuskegee faced its second straight shutout in as many seasons and again, versus Albany State. last year, they lost to the Rams 20-0 . This season, it was a 21-0 deficit. According to the stats, the game was a "boring bowl" with ASU scoring a touchdown in the the first three quarters and then settling into a defensive battle between the squads which 'Skegee lost too.

Fort Valley went to Melbourne, Florida but not for the sun. They went to improve their won -loss and did 33-29 to the host Florida Tech Panthers. I said last week that the Wildcats would win if their senior quarterback Slade Jarmin brought his "A" game with his sunglasses to Florida . He did with 254 passing yards, one touchown toss and three rushing touchdowns as well.

INSIDE'S PICKS THIS WEEK
Central State over Fort Valley (Central State homecoming)
KSU over CAU ( KSU homeecoming)
Savannah State over Alcorn (Alcorn homecoming)
Albany State over Lane (Albany homecoming)
Miles over Banedict (Benedict homecoming)
Morehouse over Tuskegee (84th Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic)

Got an item? Contact Hal -> hallamar at comcast.net