October 23, 2004 – ATLANTA – The best way to describe the Morehouse-Clark Atlanta game is to call it an offensive explosion. And when the dust settled at Panther Stadium -- Morehouse prevailed.

The Maroon Tigers had five scoring drives of 70-plus yards and amassed 572 yards of total offense, on the way to a 45-35 defeat of their cross-campus rivals. The victory was the fifth straight for the Tigers over the Panthers, dating back to 2000.

Clark Atlanta, the SIAC’s top rushing team, had four scoring drives of 65-plus yards, on the way to collecting 464 yards of offense.

Picking up where he left off last week, running back John David Washington had another outstanding game. The 5’-10,” 200-pound junior from Toluca Lake, CA, rushed for 183 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns. Two of his touchdowns were for 30 yards each.

While Washington rested, running back Byron Comer scampered through gaping holes in the Panther defense courtesy of an inspired Maroon Tiger offensive line that generated the team’s highest offensive output of the season.

The 5’-9,” 190-pound freshman from Jacksonville, FL, rushed for 134 yards and scored two touchdowns. Comer gained his 134 yards on only six carries, giving him an average of 22.3 yards per carry. He also had 3 kick returns for 20 yards.

Cornerback Woodrow Vereen led the defense with 12 tackles, six of them solo. He got plenty of support from the Maroon Tiger defense, especially linebacker Lynn Freeman (10 tackles) and defensive end Jason Cornelius (9 tackles).

Vereen, a senior from Bridgeport, CT, picked off three Panther passes that he returned for 58 yards. His third interception in the end zone late in the fourth quarter halted a long Clark Atlanta drive and helped preserve the Maroon Tigers’ lead.

The Morehouse defensive line forced four Clark Atlanta fumbles – two by Marchellio Walton. William Johnson registered a quarterback sack.

Freshman Carlos King started at quarterback for the second straight game, but alternated the signal-calling duties with junior Duwuan Burton. King connected on 4-of-8 passes for 43 yards. Burton, returning to his previous form, completed 11-of-17 passing attempts for 197 yards and a touchdown. Neither quarterback was sacked.

Morehouse improves to 4-4 (3-3 SIAC) and will square off against Albany State 8-0 (7-0 SIAC) in Saturday’s Homecoming game at 2 p.m.