On Friday and Saturday, USC, UCLA, UC-Berkeley, Stanford, and many other prestigious institutions in California took a back seat to two of the most prestigious HBCUs, as the Panthers (4-0,1-0) used defensive touchdowns to outscore Morehouse (3-2) 28-17. Los Angeles, California’s Memorial Coliseum held the third annual Angel City Classic over the weekend where the new look Panthers lined up opposite of the Tigers from Atlanta, Ga.
The game and atmosphere was a great representation of the HBCU experience as the House of Funk and the Marching Storm played beautiful music over what turned out to be an exciting contest.
After two three-and-outs, Morehouse QB Christian Sterling threw a pass that was tipped and ended up in the leaping lap of PVAMU’s Anthony Beck who ran the INT back for the first points of the game, a 60-yard TD return. From then on the Morehouse passing attack seemed to settle in, as they would accumulate 323 passing yards throughout the game. “We just came out sluggish,” said DB Beck. The Tigers were the first team this year to reach more than 200 total yards of offense on the Panther defense. Eighty of those yards came on the first of two 12-play drives, which ended with a 16-yard toss from Sterling to RB Pernez Pickney that tied the game at 7-7.
In the second quarter, the Tigers would again sustain a long drive as Pickney scored his second TD of the game by running two yards into the end zone. The drive was the second time Morehouse started at the 20 and drove the defense down field concluding with a TD. The Pickney score would give the Tigers their first lead at 14-7.
The next Prairie View drive saw Coach Frazier turn to scoring machine and yard muncher Donald Babers, who was called on for four of the five rushes. The five-play drive was highlighted by a 46-yard run in which Babers cut back across the field like another running back who played at the Coliseum. “Reggie Bush was my hero,” said Babers, “I’m just glad I could play on the same field as him, but I give credit to my offensive line.” The offensive line does deserve much credit because they created holes that enabled Babers to run for 180 yards and one TD. The Panthers played hard in the first half, but still went into halftime down 17-14 after Micah Streiff connected on a 22-yard field goal with 48 seconds left in the half.
The third quarter started out perfect as the Panther defense slowed down the Morehouse offense and caused them to punt. On the Panthers’ first possession, they took the ball and drove 90 yards to take the lead for good. The drive was capped off when Florida State transfer Russell Ball took a hand off from Mark Spivey and bounced around the corner for a 14-yard rush TD. Both teams’ defensive units locked up after the Ball scamper and didn’t allow another offensive score. The momentum swung back and forth for the remainder of the game with neither offense being able to cash in again. With 2:16 left in the game, Morehouse started the last drive on the PVAMU 10 yard line. The Tigers ran five plays, picking up two first downs and appeared to be driving down the field for a chance at a last second score. Fortunately, on the sixth play of the drive Sterling jumped and couldn’t reach the ball that was flying over his head. DL Moses Ellis beat Sterling to the ball and then to the end zone, running the Panthers 32 yards to their first 4-0 start since 1968.
The Tigers did scorch Prairie View through the air but failed to produce a competitive rushing game, gaining only 24 total yards on the ground. Anthony Beck, who had six tackles and two INTs, one for a TD, led the defense. Val Ford and Riante Jones each accounted for seven tackles while All-American Zach East, who sat out the first half, grabbed five total. The defense also forced three fumbles, recovering one and returning it for a TD.
The game was by far the highlight of the weekend, but the overall event showed many west coast citizens the beauty of the total HBCU experience as 52,000+ comfortably fit into the LA Coliseum. Enrique Chavez of Los Angeles County said, “I enjoyed the bands of both programs and the game was very good.” Kendric Knox, another LA resident, also stated, “It was a better game than last year. Both teams showed they could play and it was important to show kids the talent of HBCUs on the field and in the music.”
Moving from the stands back to the field, the Panthers are now setting their sights on the team they have been waiting for all spring, summer, and fall – the Grambling State Tigers. “We know Grambling is the game we’ve wanted, but we were just taking it one game at a time,” said Beck. The Panthers haven’t beaten the Tigers in more than 20 years, maybe more. That’s why the team is so amped for this game and keeping their sights on their ‘unfinished business.’ ‘Unfinished business’ means making the little plays to reach our goal of a SWAC Championship,” said QB Spivey.
The undefeated Panthers will see if they can finally eliminate those mistakes this Saturday, Oct. 4, in the annual Southwestern Airlines State Fair Classic in Dallas, Texas against the Tigers of Grambling State. Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 6 p.m.