Florida A&M 34, Morgan State 16

CINCINNATI, Ohio (Sept. 14) -- The Florida A&M Rattlers opened their defense of their back-to-back Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football titles Saturday with a 34-16 win over Morgan State in the Proctor and Gamble Riverfront Classic III at Paul Brown Stadium.

The Rattlers (2-1, 1-0 in the MEAC) ran their opening day record in league play to a scintillating 16-2 since joining the conference in 1980.

Morgan State (0-3, 0-1), battled valiantly against the defending champs, rising from the dead in the second half to briefly pose a threat to Florida A&M.

FAMU built a 24-0 lead by halftime thanks largely to the work of senior quarterback Casey Printers and freshman tailback Rashard Pompey.

Printers, who left the game in the second quarter with a left ankle sprain, passed for 195 yards on 15 completions (30 attempts). He tossed a 27-yard scoring strike to senior Dennis Bonga late in the first half, after opening the scoring with a seven-yard sprint and dive for a TD in the first period.

Pompey, a true freshman from Tallahassee who scored with 11:08 left in the second period on a four-yard blast, bowled over the Bears for 149 yards rushing on 20 carries, breaking free on a winding 55-yard gallop in the second period to set up the Printers-to-Bonga scoring collaboration with 5:04 left in the first half.

With Printers on the sideline and the Rattler offense in a stall, the Bears came to life in the third period, outscoring FAMU, 16-7 to close to 31-16 by the start of the final period.

The Bears got on the board when tight end Vishanti Shiancoe got behind safety Levy Brown and rumbled 73 yards with a pass from Brad Littlejohn with 9:53 left. T.J. Stallings swept right end for two points and the Bears trailed 24-8.

FAMU answered with a seven-play, 65-yard drive, with backup QB Reggie Hayes galloping in from 13 yards out for a 31-8 FAMU bulge with 7:26y to play in the third.

Morgan scored again with 1:38 left in the period when Littlejohn passed 24 yards to William Sherman for a 31-16 affair after a two-point conversion run by Stallings.

The Rattler defense came up when it counted for FAMU, forcing four Bear turnovers, recording six sacks and 14 tackles for loss, while allowing the Baltimore boys to convert just two of their13 third down tries.

Morgan's Littlejohn accounted for 237 total yards against the Rattlers though, rushing for 136 yards on 15 carries (9.1 average) and passing for 101 yards and two TDs, completing just three of five aerial attempts.

RATTLER BITES: FAMU safety Levy Brown (5-11, 185, Jr., Miami) picked off three Morgan State passes Saturday, upping his season total to five. The single-season school record is nine (9), held jointly by Don Jefferson (1984) and William Carroll (1990).... FAMU not only improved its' record in conference openers to 16-2 lifetime, they extended their record in league play to 43-10 under Coach Billy Joe in eight-plus seasons.... The Rattlers also boosted their double digit (at least 10 points) scoring streak in MEAC games to 67 Saturday.... QB Casey Printers continued his magic scoring touch Saturday, running for one TD and passing for another, marking the 17th time in the last 19 games he'd accounted for a score.

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