By Elijah Pinckney, Staff Writer 

The Morehouse Maroon Tigers lose Saturday’s competition against the Benedict Tigers by a score of 21-5 at B.T. Harvey Stadium. The continuation of offensive struggles in today’s game seems to stem from the health of players and not taking advantage of opportunities the defense provided. 

The Maroon Tigers were the first to get on the scoreboard with a field goal kicked by Seve Spruill, II for 37 yards, giving Morehouse an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter. But, the Tigers responded with their running game to take a 7-3 lead in the first quarter after an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Maroon Tigers. 

The Maroon Tigers would go on to complete only 11 passes out of 41 attempts and one interception, as they cycled through three quarterbacks within the game due to injuries; Miles Scott, Patrick Blake, and Khamar Carlisle. The Maroon Tigers were also without wide receiver Ajani Williams today due to a knee injury along with a number of other players. 

“We have to get healthy. Ajani Williams was out, Zion Bouie was out, we had a couple of linemen as well that were also out, and our quarterbacks were hurt”, Coach Terrance Mathis said. “For us to continue to progress as being elite in this conference, we just have to get healthy and do what’s asked of us to do.”

The Maroon Tigers defense was able to fend off the Tigers scoring attempts for a while, but the Tigers advances began to get through the Maroon Tigers. The combination of running and passing plays by quarterback Charles Simmons made it difficult for the Maroon Tigers to contain him. He finished with 132 total yards and two passing touchdowns to wide receivers Tyrique Carter and Malik Mullins. 

“They kept us in the game, they always do”, Coach Mathis said. “They bounced back from last week’s game, and the disappointing part is offensively we couldn’t get anything going.”

Linebackers Sean Johnson and Caleb Grant showed their efforts on the field as they both finished the game with nine tackles. Grant also had two sacks in today’s game.

Outside linebacker Jeremiah Johnson also contributed to the defensive front, as he put two points on the board for Morehouse by tackling Simmons in the end zone for a safety, cutting the deficit to two and making the score 5-7 in favor of the Tigers. 

But ultimately, the Maroon Tigers will allow two more touchdowns to close out the game and seal their loss to the Tigers. 

In the Maroon Tigers’ preparation for the rest of the season, Mathis emphasizes that, “We can’t beat Morehouse. We play Morehouse every week, and today we beat Morehouse. We have to cut down on mental errors, penalties, and make the easy plays.”

The Maroon Tigers are scheduled to face Tuskegee University next Saturday at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium at 2 pm for the annual Morehouse-Tuskegee Football Classic.

Copy Edited by Sports Editor, Rece Allen