The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Offense powers Morehouse over Clark Atlanta in AU Center rivalry
It was Senior Day at Morehouse on Saturday, but it was a pair of juniors who had big offensive performances in the Maroon Tigers’ 40-39 victory over Atlanta University Center neighbor Clark Atlanta.
Junior quarterback Michael Sims had 275 yards passing and two touchdowns and junior running back Santo Dunn added 116 yards and a touchdown for Morehouse, which finished the season with a 4-6 record. Morehouse recognized its 16 seniors pregame and also held a moment of silence for Alexis Crawford, the missing Clark Atlanta student who was found dead Friday after a weeklong search.
Senior Tremell Gooden closed his Morehouse career in a big way, with seven catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Gooden turned a short catch from Sims into an 80-yard touchdown in the first and added a 23-yard score in the second quarter.
“It’s been an emotional week for us, counting down to what we all knew would be our last game,” Gooden said. “But we knew we had to pull together and play as a team all the way to the end.”
But for all of the points scored in the game, the outcome wasn’t finally secured until Clark Atlanta was flagged for too many players on the field with Morehouse facing fourth-and-1 with less than a minute and a half remaining.
“We knew it would be a tough game, it’s like that with Clark every year,” Morehouse coach Rich Freeman said.
Clark Atlanta, which ended its season at 0-10, took the early lead by turning an interception of Sims by Joseph Culpepper into an eight-play, 59-yard scoring drive. The Panthers passed on seven of the eight plays and scored on 7-yard pass from Charles Stafford to Johnathan Sanders in the left corner of the end zone.
Morehouse scored on its next possession, an 11-play, 71-yard drive that tied the score at 7-7. After ending the first drive with an interception, the Maroon Tigers stayed on the ground throughout their scoring drive.