On Saturday afternoon, in the 38th meeting between the two rivals, the Howard University Bisons (1-3) dominated the Morehouse College Maroon Tigers (0-3) in a 31-0 rout in the Inaugural Toyota HBCU New York Football Classic.
Howard’s quarterback Quinton Williams played his best game of the young season by throwing two touchdown passes and running back Antoine Murray added two more as the Bisons overpowered the Maroon Tigers.
In a highly competitive first half of action, both teams failed to put any points on the board as each defense refused to give any ground. Aaron Bickerton, who missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter, nailed a 30-yarder in the third that opened up the scoring floodgates for the Bisons who scored 28 unanswered points.
The stands were filled with over 35,000 attendees including alumni from both schools as well as other HBCUs at MetLife Field in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Spike Lee, a Morehouse alum, and former NBA player champion and current North Carolina A&T student J.R. Smith presided over the coin toss.
Before the kickoff, both coaches expressed their excitement about the highly-anticipated matchup and the future of their respective programs,
"Howard is synonymous with excellence," said Coach Larry Scott. "One thing we have to do is elevate our football program to be a part of that elite esteem that is Howard. Once we get it there, it's going to be there to stay because it's being built the right way."
"We have high emotions today," Coach Rich Freeman said. "I have high emotions, we have high emotions for our team, our fans, and our institution. We look forward to representing Morehouse College in a first-class fashion in a first-class football game."
The halftime show which Google sponsored, featured a "Battle of the Bands" that had the entire stadium rocking. Howard’s Showtime marching band, under the direction of Kelvin W. Washington, thrilled the audiences with their renditions of “Now That We Found Love,” and “Swag Surfin.” Not to be outdone, the Morehouse House of Funk marching band, led by Chad "Sir Wick" Hughes, Ph.D., dazzled the crowd with a medley of songs and their own version of “Swag Surfin.”
As a part of their sponsorship, Google also awarded $210,000 in scholarships to 105 HBCU students. Through Google’s HBCU Tools for Schools Foundation, at least one recipient from each HBCU received a scholarship.
Since their first matchup in 1923, the Bison are 26-10-2 all-time in the series and have won the last five meetings against the Maroon Tigers.
With a bye week coming up on their schedule, Howard's next opponent will be Yale on October 1. Morehouse will look to get in the win column when they take on Savannah State on September 24.
