October 16, 2004 – Atlanta – Capitalizing on the first start of his college football career, freshman quarterback Carlos King guided the Maroon Tigers to a 17-8 victory over the Dragons of Lane College, Saturday, at Harvey Stadium.
King, a 6’-3” 190-pound signal caller from Albany, GA, completed 6-of-12 passes for 61 yards. He rushed for 46 yards on 12 carries. His 11-yard touchdown run at the end of the first quarter capped a 76-yard drive that he orchestrated to put the Maroon Tigers up 14-0.
Playing in only his fourth college game, King, a true freshman, replaced Duwuan Burton in the lineup. He threw one interception and was sacked four times. Burton, who set a Morehouse single-season passing record last year, played sparingly, completing 3-of-6 passes for 22 yards.
Running back John David Washington got back on track after a leg injury kept him out of much of last week’s game against Tuskegee. In that game Washington gained only seven yards on three carries. Against a porous Lane defense, the junior from Toluca Lake, CA rushed for 138 yards on 29 carries. His 18-yard touchdown run gave the Maroon Tigers a 6-0 lead that they never relinquished.
For the second week in a row, sophomore defensive back Robert Harris was inserted into the offensive lineup after a touchdown. As he did last week, the team’s third leading tackler ran untouched into the end zone for the two-point conversion.
After giving up 550 yards last week, the Maroon Tigers’ defense stepped up against the struggling Dragons, holding the visitors to186 yards of offense.
Senior defensive end Jason Cornelius led the hit parade with 10 tackles and one-and-a half sacks. Marchellio Walton and Woodrow Vereen had seven tackles each and Lynn Freeman and James Lane had six apiece.
Four Maroon Tigers – Thomas Earl, Ryan Harris, Adrian Johnson and James Lane – each had an interception that halted Lane drives.
The win against the 2-5 (0-5 SIAC) Dragons snaps a two-game losing streak and improved the team’s record to 3-4 (2-3 SIAC).
The Maroon Tigers will travel across campus Saturday to face the Clark Atlanta Panthers. Game time is 1:30 p.m. Morehouse won the last meeting against CAU 48-33.
