ATLANTA, Ga. – The Wildcats won three of the fourth quarters and were rewarded with a win. Fort Valley State owned the second half and defeated Morehouse College, 42-20, Saturday afternoon in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football action.
Holding a 21-20 halftime edge, FVSU drove 60 yards for a pair of Brandon Marshall touchdown runs on its two third-quarter possessions, before Dejuan Bell returned his third punt for a touchdown in the early fourth. The BlueDeath Defense did its part in dominating the second 30 minutes where it didn't allow a Maroon Tigers first down and held the home team to -30 yards on 15 plays.
With the win, FVSU stays in a tight race for one of the two top spots of the SIAC at 5-1. The Wildcats (5-3) also stayed perfect under head coach Shawn Gibbs coming off losses to 8-0. Morehouse fell to 1-7 and 0-5 in the SIAC.
Leading the FVSU offense, Marshall ran for 99 yards on 15 carries with the two second-half scores of five and one-yard. Kelvin Durham completed 10 of 16 passes for 153 yards with touchdown passes of 27 and 18 yards. Za'Tarious Anderson pulled in two passes for 49 yards the 27-yard score and Hampton had three catches for 29 yards and the 18-yard touchdown catch.
Bell returned the third punt for a touchdown on the season covering 52 yards and he had three returns for 76 total yards.
The Wildcat defense received the biggest early boost by Jaylen Brown, who picked off a Maroon Tiger pass in the end zone for a touchdown. Along with the interception pick 6, Brown had five tackles with one for loss and a sack. David Moncrief had his best game of the season with five stops, two for a loss, and a sack.
Adeon Farmer sacked the Morehouse quarterback twice and Omarion LaRoach had one of his own. Both DeMarcus Harris and DJ Wilson contributed three tackles, two for loss with a sack.
FVSU took an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter after Durham hit Anderson from 27 yards with 9:34 left in the first before Brown caught the wayward Morehouse pass in the endzone at 6:36. Durham made it two scoring passes when he found Hampton from 18 yards and gave FVSU a 21-3 lead heading to the second.
Morehouse put together its best quarter of the 2024 season with 17 points in the final 8:34, including two touchdowns in the last 1:51, and pulled to within a point, 21-20 at half.
FVSU returns home for 'Senior Day' next Saturday afternoon, Nov. 2, in a 1 p.m. kick-off against Benedict College.
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