Roderick Chapman returned Missouri S&T’s opening kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown and never trailed Tuskegee, who dropped its home opener 16-7 Saturday afternoon at Cleve L. Abbott Memorial Alumni Stadium. It would mark the first home loss since a 45-26 defeat in the NCAA Playoffs from November of 2016 against North Carolina Greenville.
Despite the carer high in receiving yards (166) from Javarrius Cheatham on seven catches and one touchdown, the Golden Tigers were held scoreless for three quarters of the game. The Greenville, Ala native helped chipped away a 10 point deficit when he hauled in a 62-yard touchdown from Ahmad Deramus, which made the score 10-7 with 8:30 left before halftime.
Tuskegee (2-2) was stout on defensive only surrendering 172 yards of total offense and was led by Terance Leatherwood and Davoris Thomas who each earned seven tackles. Leatherwood also added three sacks. Kalil Gray, Ricky Norris and Rorrick Steward chipped in five tackles apiece with Norris registering a sack as well.
Tuskegee’s first drive of the second half took up 3:55 seconds occupying 53 yards on eight plays, but stalled in the red zone after a blocked field goal denied the Golden Tigers a chance at tying the game. On TU’s ensuing possession, they would again stall in the red zone, this time moving the ball for 69 yards on 13 plays. On 3rd and 1 from the S&T 12 yard line with 6:58 left in the contest, Deramus threw an interception which all but ended Skegee’s rally.
Deramus, who was starting only his fourth career game, completed 15 of his 34 passing attempts for 294 yards. Peyton Ramzy caught three passes for 61 yards while teammate Steven Hodges also hauled in three receptions for 61 yards.
The Golden Tigers struggled running the football as no running back earned over 50 yards. Freshman Taurean Taylor led TU on the ground with only 34.
TU returns home to host Lane College in the Hall of Fame game next Saturday at 1 p.m. The game can be seen live on Flo Sports. Live audio coverage will also be available on the Tuskegee Digital Network.
Courtesy: Tuskegee Athletics
