Morehouse tires of losing to Tuskegee

You don't have to point it out to him. Morehouse coach Rich Freeman is fully aware of the Maroon Tigers struggles in the Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic. Entering his eighth season at the helm of Morehouse, Freeman will bluntly tell you the truth.

"Over the few seasons, they have flat out whooped us," Freeman said. "I believe that they have beaten us by a combined 50 points over the past two years, and that's not good enough on our part."

In fact, Tuskegee has outscored Morehouse 124-24 over the past three years and has won 10 of the last 11 meetings over the Maroon Tigers. Morehouse's lone victory over the Golden Tigers in the past decade came in 2011, a tight 17-14 victory at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium.

"We have entered this game with a better record over the past few years and we stumbled," Freeman said. "This year, we are 3-2, but we are five points from being undefeated.

"I told the guys that this game isn't the hurdle, but the month of October is. That has really been our problem over the years. October is the time when you are measured against the best, and we are looking forward to it."

This year's game is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium.

Morehouse has shown signs of improvements this

year. The Maroon Tigers rank inside the top three in scoring offense and defense this season in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Moorehouse is the only team in the SIAC to have scored 20 touchdowns this season with most of the damage coming from junior quarterback Monqavious Johnson.

Johnson averages a SIAC high 153.3 yards per game and has thrown 11 touchdown passes. He has also rushed for a touchdown while rushing for 142 yards.

The junior missed the Tuskegee game last year due to an injury.

Junior running back Malik Johnson is the leading rusher for the Maroon Tigers, averaging 53.2 yards per game. Sophomore Isaiah Hicks has three rushing scores on the year.

On the defensive side of the ball, Morehouse allows just 19.4 points per game, the third best mark in the SIAC. That number can be deceiving as Morehouse allowed 29 points to Division I FCS school University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in triple overtime.

"We allowed some points to Pine Bluff in the overtime periods and then the following week against Johnson C. Smith, but overall the defense has played well. We have a ways to go, but the improvement is there," Freeman said.

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Morehouse tires of losing to Tuskegee ."