October 3, 2009 – ATLANTA – Jamar Rodriguez caught three touchdown passes and returned a 91-yard kickoff for a touchdown, to help the Maroon Tigers score a 40-27 victory over the Stillman College Tigers.
Rodriguez, a junior wide receiver and kick returner from Houston, hauled in touchdown passes of 22, 27 and 35 yards. Combined with his kickoff return, the four TD’s tied him for the fourth best single-game scoring by one player in Morehouse history.
The game’s other big story is that all three Rodriguez TD’s were thrown by backup quarterback DaJuan Thigpen, who substituted for starter William Brack after he suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter and spent the second half in street clothes.
Thigpen, a junior from Baton Rouge, LA, has seen limited action this season, after serving as the third string quarterback last season. But the 6’-0” 175-pound backup came in firing, connecting on his first pass for a 22 yard TD strike to Rodriguez. Thigpen completed 10-of-17 passes, for 167 yards and threw no interceptions.
Amassing a season high 609 total yards, Morehouse improved to 4-1 (3-1 SIAC), while dropping Stillman to 1-4 (0-4 SIAC).With six returns for 191 yards and four pass receptions for 80 yards, Rodriguez accounted for nearly half of those yards.
Linebacker Brandon Cunningham got Morehouse on the board first with a fumble recovery that he returned 78 yards for a touchdown, less than three minutes into the game. It was the first of four scoring plays that gave Morehouse a 23-0 halftime lead.
Stillman chipped away at the lead in the second half, at one point, closing the gap to 26-19, but two Rodriguez touchdowns and a 47-yard Ian Mullen field goal held them at bay.
Justin Oliver led Morehouse in tackles, with eight, followed by DaJuan Holmes, with seven, and Elijah Anderson and Brandon Houston, with six each.
The record of five touchdowns in one game is shared by Kenneth Rodgers (2002), Raymond Johnson (2003) and James Steadman (2007). Rodriguez’s 91-yarder also ties for fourth best of all-time with Raymond Oliver (1975).
The Maroon Tigers will tangle with the Tuskegee Golden Tigers next Saturday, in the 74th Annual Tuskegee-Morehouse Football Classic, in Columbus, GA, at 2 p.m. The Tiger clash is the nation’s oldest and longest running black college football series.
