October 29, 2005 – ALBANY, GA – Continuing a pattern of win-one-lose-two, the Maroon Tigers lost to Albany State Golden Rams 37-13.
The pattern exposes the season-long problem of potent offense-poor defense by the Maroon Tigers who rank second in the conference in total offense, but last in total defense.
For the second straight week, the Maroon Tigers out-distanced an opponent by a wide margin in passing yardage (280-99), only to be out-distanced by a wide margin in rushing yardage (397-109).
The loss overshadows another brilliant performance by Raymond Johnson, who for the second consecutive week reached the 200 mark in receiving yardage. The senior wide receiver from Lithia Springs, GA caught 11 passes for 206 yards against a Golden Rams pass defense ranked second in the SIAC. Last week, Johnson caught 6 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a loss against Clark Atlanta.
Albany State jumped out to an early lead with touchdowns in the first and second quarters, to take a 14-0 halftime lead. The Maroon Tigers bounced back in the third on a 19-yard touchdown reception from Ruben DuPree to Corey Russ. Morehouse kept the game close through three quarters, but a 23-point scoring outburst by the Golden Rams in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach.
Making the third start in a three-year career at Morehouse, quarterback Ruben DuPree completed 19-of-31 passes for 245 yard and a touchdown. He was sacked six times and threw one interception.
DuPree has replaced sophomore Carlos King who began the season as the starting quarterback. King, who hails from Albany, subbed for DuPree briefly in the fourth quarter and was also used as a wide receiver on several plays. King completed a 35-yarder to Raymond Johnson on one of his two passing attempts and he rushed for seven yards.
Running back John David Washington gained 87 yards on 21 attempts, to bring his season total to 1,104 yards. He needs only 21 more rushing yards to surpass his current Morehouse single-season record of 1,124 yards.
Wide receiver Corey Russ pulled in four passes for 45 yards. His TD reception in the third quarter put Morehouse on the board for the first time. Running back Kelvin Moore scored the other Maroon Tiger touchdown on a 2-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
William McKnight led Morehouse on defense with 11 tackles, 10 of them were solo tackles. Chaurean Toy had nine tackles and two quarterback sacks.
Antwan Andrews, the SIAC’s second-leading rusher behind John David Washington, powered the Golden Rams with 165 yards rushing and a touchdown on 24 carries. Quarterback Hosea Harris completed 11-of-18 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
Morehouse fell to 3-6 (2-6 SIAC) and will face Miles College Saturday in the inaugural Knoxville Legacy Classic in Knoxville, TN, at 12 p.m. Albany State upped its record to 7-1 (7-1 SIAC) and will play Fort Valley (7-1) on Saturday in a game that will likely decide the 2005 SIAC championship.
