Morehouse eases past well coached two-year-old Concordia

September 23, 2006

By Hal Lamar
Inside Hotlanta

What a difference a halftime makes. Taking his Morehouse Maroon Tigers in the locker room at the half, third year coach Terry Beauford told INSIDE after the game that he "talked " to his charges. " You really don'r want to know what I said, " said Beauford, laughing.

But one of his defense gems, defensive lineman Colin Shipley of Kansas City Missouri, might have put a softer spin on the conversation. " It was a pep talk, " he told INSIDE. "He just reminded us that we were as good as anybody in the conference (SIAC)." In the first half, the Marooners could have fooled most of the 4542 partisan fans at BT Harvey Stadium on Morehouse's campus. Concordia came to play football from Selma Alabama and they got busy after winning the toss and getting the ball From their own 33, the Hornets did a Sherman-to-the-sea kind of drive in 7 plays, eating 3:33 of clock and taking a 7-0 lead which they maintained through the first half.

But the second half was a total story. Big "Mo" swung Morehouse's way with a lot of that credited to senior signal caller Rueben Dupree. The 5-8 leader from Atlanta's Mays High School who had a miserable first half with 28 passing yards, an interception and a sack, made up for it in spades come the second stanza . He completed 12 of his 14 attempts and wound up finishing the night with 269 yards. " I don't know what happened between the first and second half, " said Dupree. "We may have taken them lightly or something. We realized at halftime that we'd all have to step it up and we did." Sophomore was leading 17-7 with 4:00 remaining in the game and was pushing Concordia back when they committed both a personal foul and unsportsman-like conduct penalty that gave Concordia four fresh downs at the Morehouse 5. Sophomore back Fermadus Edwards then romped over from there and Concordia moved to within four points of the lead. But then with less than 2 minutes to go, Morehouse wisely set on the ball and left Concordia with less that 12 seconds to get the ball back and get off only one play. The Morehouse win brings their 2006 total to 2-4 and Beauford admits a win any way it comes shakes a gremlins off the team's backs.

"People get critical when you lose," he told INSIDE. " But a win gives our staff and our players confidence. We've had a rough first half of the season and some are counting us down but we are long way from out."

HOTLANTA NOTES: Rumors are swirling 's round this town that talks are quietly underway to revive the Heritage Bowl that played Atlanta for several years. Sources said they are only in the talking stages currently.

Morris Brown College, struggling to keep their doors open, has finally gotten smart and is making use of their state-of-the-art stadium facility gifted them by the 1996 Olympics. One of the sharpest things the school did in recent memory was rehire former stadium operations chief Cecil Fred. He says several concerts; high school football games and other activities are planned for the facility that will bring in needed revenue to the school struggling uphill to regain its accreditation.