September 2, 2006 – Fort Valley, Ga. – Quarterback Ruben DuPree orchestrated a fast and furious second-half comeback, but it was too little too late, and Morehouse fell to Fort Valley 24-14, at Wildcat Stadium.

DuPree, who took over for starter Carlos King at halftime, passed for 170 yards and two touchdowns. Forced to pass, because of a 17-0 halftime deficit, the 5-9 senior from Atlanta put on a scrambling clinic, juking and shedding oncoming rushers. Almost eel-like in his narrow escapes, DuPree repeatedly avoided sacks to get off the pass. And he rushed for 32 yards.

Half of DuPree’s 12 completions were caught by his brother Ravenell DuPree, who hauled in a total of eight passes for 92 yards. Ruben’s desperation heave into the end zone from the 12-yard line was intercepted, with 32 seconds left in the game. The interception halted a 10-play, 51-yard drive.

The DuPree-led comeback was reminiscent of last season’s Tuskegee game, when the brother-to-brother act rallied the Maroon Tigers to 24 points in the second half.

Wide receiver James Steadman scored his second touchdown of the season, with a leaping grab over his defender. The 10-yard pass from DuPree, late in the third quarter started the Morehouse rally. Steadman, a quarterback-turned-receiver, had one other catch for five yards.

Achille Hendje, made an acrobatic 32-yard touchdown grab of a DuPree pass with 4:29 left in the game. Hendje, a 6-2 sophomore wide receiver from Silver Spring, Md., caught another pass for 12 yards, but fumbled it as he headed up field.

Coach Terry Beauford may have found a secret weapon in his arsenal. After two woeful punts by starting punter Erwin Equihua, backup running back Kelvin Moore took over the punting duties. Moore who missed last week with injury, booted three booming punts for an average of 39.7 yards. By comparison, the Fort Valley punter averaged 36.3 yards, and the best punter in the SIAC last week averaged 36 yards. Moore’s punts had distance and hang time and must have had Morehouse fans wondering where he’s been hiding.

Morehouse starting running back Eddie Rowe was held to 48 yards on 14 carries. Against Benedict last week, Rowe rushed for a career-high 178 yards. Almost all of Rowe’s yards came in the first half. Trailing by 17 at the half forced the Maroon Tigers to abandon the running game.

The Morehouse defense surrendered 369 yards, with 274 of those on the ground. The crushing yardage came on touchdown runs of 62 and 71 yards, which proved to be the difference in an otherwise even game.

Scorpio Brown, Eric Shelton and Vincent Whaley each had six tackles to lead the Maroon Tigers. Brown picked off a pass for his second interception of the season and ran it back 15 yards.

Morehouse will play a home opener Thursday, at 8 p.m. against Lane College. The game will be televised nationally by CSTV (College Sports Television).