The first half of Saturday’s game between Florida Memorial and Clark Atlanta was likely one of the best in Black College Football this season.
And that’s where it ended.
Nonstop rain, thunder, and lightning caused the game to be called with 12:28 to go in the third quarter. According to HBCU Plus, the game will go down as a tie.
Before the rain came, the Lions (1-0-1) and the Panthers (2-0-1) ran up and down the Betty T. Ferguson Memorial Stadium field, combining for 607 yards of total offense. Here are the takeaways from one half of football that might outdo a lot of teams’ best two halves during the course of this season.
Florida Memorial’s running back depth chart is stacked
Last week, in their win over Edward Waters, FMU got 297 rushing yards combined from Walter Wilbon and Marcus Barthell. On Saturday against CAU, both of those players scored touchdowns, but they were also joined by junior George Young, who made his season debut for the Lions with a four-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. FMU only ran for 68 yards as opposed to 310 the previous week, but that was because their passing game got them close enough for shorter scoring runs.
The Lions can pass, too
This leads to the second takeaway – Florida Memorial is not a one-dimensional football team. Cedquan Smith had himself a game in a little over a half of work, completing 19 of 22 passes for 284 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. His one-two punch with receivers David Studstill and Christian Edgerson made the big plays to get the Lions close enough to hand the ball off to their running backs. FMU is truly a pick-your-poison offense, and the Sun Conference, as well as all of NAIA, should be afraid.
Clark Atlanta has playmakers
Nothing surprising about the Panthers’ stable of game-breakers, but they showed up when CAU needed them most Saturday. Return man Virgil Wilson started the fireworks with a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown, giving the Panthers an early 7-0 lead, while Jamal Jones was part of an incredible second-quarter scoring burst with an 89-yard kickoff return for a score.
The chief playmaker, of course, is quarterback David Wright III, and the reigning SIAC offensive player of the year matched Smith’s output, completing 16 of 28 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns, including a beautiful throw to the back of the end zone that Amone Harris hauled in with 16 seconds left in the first half to tie the game at 28.
Neither team was great defensively
Neither defense looked particularly sharp Saturday, and Florida Memorial has had tons of problems stopping the opposing team’s return game on special teams, which could hurt them later in the season.
CAU’s pass defense is cause for concern, as every quarterback they’ve played thus far has been able to play pitch and catch with their receivers. Clark has been able to get away with it the first three weeks of the season, but they can’t keep playing fire, or else they’ll be burnt (toast).
We deserved a full four quarters of this game
This game had 46-45 or 50-47 written all over it. There should’ve been a plan in place for them to either wait out the storm or resume the game Sunday at noon. Unfortunately, the reality of smaller athletic programs and resources wins out every time, so we’ll have to wait until next year when these two teams are scheduled to meet at Panther Stadium.
