Florida A&M 25, Tennessee State 22, OT

September 30, 2006

By Hal Lamar

It was obvious to everyone at the post game press conference following Tennessee State's 25 -22 loss to Florida A&M in overtime at the 18th Atlanta Football Classic that Tiger head coach James Webster Junior was anything but a happy camper.

Hal Lamar Photo

Coach James Webster

"Y'all here to take pictures or ask questions," he snapped to reporters waiting in the media staging area of the Georgia Dome.

If Webster had a bit of an attitude, it was understandable, considering how close the "Big Blue" came to actually winning the contest after trailing 22-14 with only 52 seconds remaining in the game and having to march 76 yards in that short time span.

But miracles do happen. Thanks to TSU sophomore quarterback Antonio Heffner and great open field running by sophomore back Javaris Williams and junior Maurice Young, TSU consumed all but 10 seconds of that handful of life left on the clock and took the oval to the FAMU 15 where Heffner then found sophomore Chris Johnson in the end zone. TSU then needed two points to tie the game and possibly send it into overtime. With no other options, Heffner sent his tight end, sophomore Antonio Graham on a wing left, flipped him the pigskin, when watched as the 190 pounder snaked his way into the end zone.

Although FAMU won the loss in OT, they elected ho on defense first and allow TSU first crack at scoring from the 25. Again utilizing the talents of Williams. who finished the game with his single best single game rushing total of 229 yards, the Tigers worked the oval to the 1 yard line ("I was more like the one inch line," said Webster") On fourth down, Williams either dropped or had the ball knocked out of his hand. It was recovered by FAMU's junior linebacker Darnell Shepherd.

Then, FAMU got the nod to try and score on four downs in OT and did, thanks to the magic foot of Werley Taylor. The junior from Riverview, Florida sailed one through the uprights from 34 yards. He had already nailed three others from 42,47 and 36 yards.

" "We were in kind of a shock really, " said Webster. " We ready felt we could have won that ballgame." Conversely, FAMU's Rubin Carter was euphoric and maybe a little grateful too since the Tigers had come so close to taking the AFC trophy back to Nashville. "This is the third week in a row we've had come from behind and find a way to win it. We have a very young football team but there is a lot of energy there We're gaining strength and experience as we move along but we are also gaining identity for our team and each and every player." Notwithstanding Taylor, FAMU junior quarterback Albert Chester engineered most of the Rattlers' five scoring drives in regulation play including two touchdown strikes in the third quarter. He and Williams were voted MVPs of the contest.

"There is no quit in this ball club," said Webster. We have a young team but I've said we're getting better with every game. We made some mistakes that hurt us and some plays that helped. In the end, we just couldn't hold on to the football." Both teams will enjoy a bye week the weekend of October 7 to prepare for their next opponents. For the Tigers, it's Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech. For the Rattlers, it a home match up with the Bulldogs of South Carolina State.

This year's Classic, put on annually by the Atlanta Chapter of 100 Black Men of America, drew 57.888, their lowest attendance in several years.