South Carolina State was cruising in their MEAC home opener Saturday afternoon…until they weren’t.
A 26-point lead almost disappeared in a haze of Morgan State offense, but the Bulldogs held on a 36-30 win over the Bears
South Carolina State improved to 6-3 overall and stayed tied with Delaware State for first place in the MEAC with a 2-0 conference mark.
Morgan State (3-6 overall, 0-2 MEAC) pulled within 14-10 after a 38-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman QB Raymond Moore III to Justin Perry, but S.C. State countered with a 22-0 run spanning the final three minutes of the second quarter and the first two minutes of the fourth quarter.
William Atkins IV fired a 69-yard touchdown pass to Dee Thompson and ran one in from three yards out to give the Bulldogs a 28-10 halftime lead. Two Nico Cavanillas-Alti field goals and a safety by Kwantre Harry gave SCSU a 36-10 lead with 2:02 gone in the fourth quarter.
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Morgan State slowly chipped away, with Moore throwing touchdown passes to Dorian Harris (14 yards) Joseph Kennerly Jr. (25 yards) and scoring on a four-yard run with 1:08 remaining in the 4th quarter.
South Carolina State was able to recover the ensuing onside kick and run out the clock on a too close for comfort victory.
