It was Florida A&M University’s senior quarterback Ben Dougherty’s last chance to beat Bethune-Cookman College, as B-CC had won two straight match-ups against the Rattlers. But he made the most of it, throwing a Florida Classic record six touchdowns.
Dougherty would be shut out though in the fourth quarter, as he couldn’t answer B-CC’s four touchdowns en route to the Wildcats 58-52 win Saturday in overtime at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
With this win, B-CC beat the Rattlers three-straight times for the first time, ever.
“It hurts really bad,” Dougherty said.
“It hurts worst than last year’s actually. That’s why you play four quarters in football.”
In addition to his six touchdown passes, Dougherty threw for 462 yards and rushed for another with one interception, completing 25 of 46 pass attempts.
But it would be B-CC’s ferocious comeback, aided by itsrunning game, that would steal the show. The Wildcats racked up 112 rushing yards in that final quarter, coming back from a 45-24 down in the third quarter.
“We started blowing our assignments,” said FAMU senior linebacker Michael Foreman, as the Rattlers gave up only 117 yards on the ground in the first three quarters.
“Our coach coached us for three weeks how to play against this offense and we just blew our assignments.”
After both teams scored a touchdown to make the game 52-31 late in the third quarter, B-CC reeled off four unanswered touchdowns including a 15-yard run by Rodney Johnson in overtime to win the game.
“I never felt really secure, even when we were up three touchdowns,” said FAMU head coach Billy Joe.
“In the past, we’ve had some difficulty with the double slot triple option offense and we did again today.”
Junior running back Rashard Pompey is one of the many Rattlers who hasn’t beaten B-CC, now along with Dougherty. But unlike Dougherty, he will have another chance next year.
“Right now, I’m so mad because ever since my freshman year, I’ve been wanting to beat them,” said Pompey, who rushed for 86 yards on 19 carries and one touchdown .
“And they’ve ended up beating us three years in a row. They showed that they wanted it more than we wanted it.”
Despite the loss, Pompey walked off the field as the eighth all-time leading rusher for FAMU.
B-CC head coach Alvin Wyatt Sr. was carted off the field immediately after the game.
B-CC officials said he was taken to the hospital as a precaution, as he was ailing from dehydration, after the exhilarating win.
Contact Ibram Rogers at ibramrogers@aol.com