ATLANTA – Tory Mimbs kicked a career-long 43-yard field goal in the second overtime to lift the Benedict College Tigers to a 29-26 victory over Morehouse College on Saturday.
It was the third time this season the Tigers have played an overtime game on the road, and their first road win. Benedict improves to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the SIAC. Morehouse falls to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the SIAC.
Mimbs made his kick after the Tigers couldn’t move the ball in the second overtime. His previous long was a 32-yard field goal in 2015 against Fort Valley State. Morehouse got the ball after that, and moved to the 12-yard line, where Collins Tensley sacked Michael Sims for a seven-yard loss on third down. Freshman kicker Fernando Sdelamora came in for a 36-yard field goal, but missed wide to the left, ending a bid to send the game into a third overtime and igniting a celebration on the Benedict sideline.
Benedict had built a 19-0 halftime lead, only to see the Maroon Tigers score 19 second-half points to tie the contest.
“I’m just glad for the win. It was a tough hard-fought game,” Benedict head coach Mike White said. “We knew Morehouse was going to play us hard for four quarters, similar to the game we played them last year when we blocked a kick. It came down again to a field goal kick, so I’m just proud of the guys the way they hung in there. We didn’t play well, especially offensively we had a tough day with turnovers. Give their defense a lot of credit, but I just thought we should have played a little better than that. I’m just glad for the guys. We just hung in there and made some plays at the end.”
Benedict had three fumbles and threw two interceptions for a season-high five turnovers on the day.
The Tigers struck first in the game on a 45-yard pass from Christian Lisby to Okechi Ntiasagwe. Mimbs added the PAT for a 7-0 lead. Jeremy Johnson scored on a 20-yard run later in the first quarter, but Mimbs’ extra point attempt was blocked, making it 13-0. On the final play of the half, Phillip Brown scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. Benedict tried for a two-point conversion, but Lisby’s pass fell incomplete, making it 19-0 at the half.
The Maroon Tigers got on the board with a 33-yard field goal by Sdelamora, getting the ball from a Lisby interception. A short time later, Lisby fumbled after a sack and Morehouse capitalized once again with a short field. The Maroon Tigers drove only 14 yards on three plays, with Sims scoring on a 3-yard run to cut the lead to 19-10.
Early in the fourth quarter, Morehouse got the ball at midfield after a Benedict punt and drove 51 yards on just four plays for another touchdown. Sims completed a 15-yard pass to Ricci Nuckles and Sdelamora’s PAT made it 19-17 with 10:58 left in the game.
On a third-and-10 play, Lisby was sacked and had to be helped off the field and did not return to the game.
Morehouse was driving when Edward Kirkland intercepted Sim’s pass attempt in the end zone. A long interception return was called back due to a Benedict penalty, and the Tigers were forced to start the drive from their own 5-yard line. On third down, Brown was sacked in the end zone for a safety, tying the game at 19 with 4:32 left on the clock.
Benedict’s defense held the Maroon Tigers on the next series and Benedict drove 60 yards before the clock ran out.
In the first overtime, Morehouse went on offense first and scored a nine-yard touchdown pass from Sims to Ryan Edwards. Benedict followed with a three-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Johnson.
“The turnovers got us in bad situations and we made some mistakes defensively and allowed them some easy scores,” White said about the second half.
Brandon Jordan led the Tigers with 71 yards rushing on 20 carries. Lisby went 8-of-19 for 146 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a concussion. Brown completed his only pass attempt for 36 yards, but also gained 37 yards rushing. The bulk of that came on a 25-yard run in the first overtime when the Tigers were forced to start from the 40-yard line after being flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty on Morehouse’s touchdown. Ntiasagwe had six catches for 134 yards. Edward Kirkland led the defense with seven tackles and had the big interception in the fourth quarter. Travionte Brown also had seven tackles and an interception. Benedict’s defense held Morehouse to 29 yards rushing on 26 carries.
“I’m happy for our team, I’m happy for our program. We finally got over the hump in overtime,” White said.
Benedict is on the road again next week, traveling to take on Albany State.