The Rattlers proved every doubter wrong Saturday night as they came through with the win in their final home game against Morgan State University.
The win against the Bears ends the two-year losing streak against Morgan State moving the rattlers to 4-3 in the MEAC conference and 4-6 overall.
Quarterback Ryan Stanley opened the game 6-for-6 on passing, but eventually threw a pick in the first quarter making it his fourth interception of the season, and fumbling the ball again near the end-zone allowing the bears to walk right in for a touchdown putting them up in the bottom half of the first quarter 14-6.
FAMU’s offense for three quarters looked dead in front of their home fans, and the defense didn’t look much better either.
In the fourth quarter things changed when defensive end Antonio Miller came up with big time sacks against Morgan State quarterback, Chris Andrews, and forced a fumble shifting the momentum to their side of the field. Shortly after that, running back Devin Bowers found himself in the end-zone on an 11-yard catch from Stanley to cut Morgan State’s lead down to just five points.
Bowers looked as though he was ready for this game.
“Being injured recently really hit my confidence before the game, but I knew what this team was capable of doing tonight despite the slow start. It came down to the fourth quarter and we came through with the ‘W’ for our fans,” Bowers said.
FAMU orchestrated a 5-play 57-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Norwood to seal the game.
Ryan Stanley finished the game going 25-of-42 passing with three touchdowns, one interception, and a fumble.
“I just wanted to put the game in my hands. I felt that if we lost it was all on me, but it feels good now to not have a loss at home,” Stanley said.
The Rattlers are 4-2 out of their last six games and could be looking at going .500 in the MEAC conference, something that hasn’t been accomplished since the 2012 season.
Coach Wood voiced that it’s going to be a very exciting football game going up against Bethune-Cookman University next week but FAMU needs to come out with the win.
“It’s a very exciting game, but we have a week to get ready so our thought process right now is to go in and get the win next week for our fans,” Wood said.
FAMU hasn’t beaten Bethune-Cookman in the classic game since 2010, but with all the momentum going into next week’s game and how well they have played these last couple of weeks their faith will certainly be tested.
A win next week will give the rattlers five wins of the season, the most since 2011.