Bears make progress, but can’t get by Rattlers

Switch at quarterback helps Morgan State offense find stride against Florida A&M

Trailing 21-7 in the first half Saturday, Morgan State’s football team seemed ripe for yet another blowout loss. Then the Bears swapped quarterbacks, scored 14 straight points and battled Florida A&M to the finish before losing, 34-31, in front of an announced 2,589 at Hughes Stadium.

“There’s no give-up in these guys. They fought to the very end,” Morgan State coach Fred Farrier said of his team, which fell to 1-7 overall and 1-4 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Florida A&M improved to 3-6 and 2-4 in the MEAC.

Down by two touchdowns in the second quarter, the Bears benched starting quarterback Elijah Staley, a redshirt junior who’d run for a 41-yard score earlier, after he lost a fumble that the Rattlers returned for a 30-yard touchdown. Enter DeAndre Harris, a sophomore backup who had played in three games this year. The move ploy worked. In just 81 seconds, Harris — better known for his running — passed for two touchdowns to forge a 21-21 tie at the break.

Both teams added field goals in the second half before Morgan State launched a 90-yard drive, its longest of the year, capped by Harris’ 3-yard scoring run on a keeper around the right side. The Bears led, 31-27, with 7:58 to go.

Barely two minutes later, Florida A&M answered to surge ahead, 34-31. Morgan State then drove into Rattlers’ territory, where Harris was intercepted at the 34-yard line. The winners then ran out the clock.

“Three points short, man,” Farrier said afterward. “We missed two field goals. Too many penalties (eight for 95 yards) in critical situations. Two turnovers is too many. I could probably have called some plays different, too.

“Tonight, I’ll watch the film and find some positives in there, but right now I’m disappointed we weren’t able to find a way to win. Once, we’ll hit that switch to turn on all the lights, not just some of them. Right now we’ve got the dimmer halfway on, and we’ve got to find a way to get it all the way turned on.”

In their past three games, two of them losses, the Bears have scored 93 points. They were shut out in their first three outings.

“We’re closer [to being competitive] than at the beginning of the season, but it still doesn’t feel good,” Farrier said. “We’ll figure out how to score one more point than the other team with what we’ve got. There’s no magical genie to bring us new players for these last three games.”

Farrier hedged on who’ll start at quarterback next week at Bethune-Cookman. Harris, he said, “came of age until that interception.”

“Both have great things they bring to the offense, and we need to figure out how to utilize their talents best,” Harris said.

Harris completed eight of 19 passes for 149 yards and touchdowns of 33 and 13 yards, both to Amonta Poteat. Harris, from Washington, Ga., called it “my best performance since I’ve been here.” How would he grade it? “Since we lost, I’ll give it a B,” he said. Poteat, a redshirt senior from Washington, D.C., was impressed with Harris’ play. The quarterback also ran for 55 yards on 12 caries.

“He did a good job today,” Poteat said. “His legs bring a bigger threat to our offense; they add another whole dimension.”

The two scoring receptions gave Poteat three for the year, a team high.

“I'd return the touchdowns for a win,” he said. First quarter FAMU: Hunter 48 pass from Stanley (Aly kick), 5:29. Second quarter MORG: Staley 41 run (Raya kick), 10:49. FAMU: Henrilus 24 pass from Stanley (Aly kick), 6:18. FAMU: Yisrael 30 fumble return (Aly kick), 5:34. MORG: Poteat 33 pass from Harris (Raya kick), 1:56. MORG: Poteat 13 pass from Harris (Raya kick), 0:35. Third quarter FAMU: FG Aly 33, 9:31. MORG: FG Raya 35, 5:10. Fourth quarter FAMU: FG Aly 36, 14:49. MORG: Harris 3 yd run (Raya kick), 7:58. FAMU: Henrilus 12 yd pass from Stanley (Aly kick), 5:54. Rushing: Florida A&M, D. Bowers 9-44, A|Rey 4-37, R|Henrilus 9-30, T|Spells 2-2, R|Stanley 8-(minus 4)|Morgan St., H|Walker Jr. 11-64, D|Harris 12-55, E|Harrell 12-53, E|Staley 4-44. Passing: Florida A&M, R. Stanley 17-23-1-286|Morgan St., D|Harris 8-19-1-149, E|Staley 10-17-0-83. Receiving: Florida A&M, C. Hunter 6-140, B|Norwood 5-69, R|Henrilus 2-36, K|Smith 1-21, C|Murphy 2-15, M|Williams 1-5|Morgan St., A|Poteat 7-99, T|Little 1-38, D|Trigg 2-27, E|Harrell 1-22, D|David 2-13, D|White 1-11, M|Bailey 1-10, D|Baldwin 2-9, H|Walker Jr. 1-3|