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C/D SPORTS 7 INSIDE MOREHOUSE. SEPTEMBER 2010 'Championship Caliber Football' Freeman Touts 2010 Maroon Tigers As His Best Team in Three Seasons By ADD SEYMOUR JR. Morehouse head football coach Rich Freeman believes he has one of the most talented foot ball squads since he came to cam pus three years ago. He wants the Morehouse com munity to come out and see for themselves. “We want all of those people who are dear to Morehouse to buy tickets,” Freeman said. “The days are long, long gone of Morehouse down there playing a game because we’re on the schedule to play. We have teams now that are playing championship-caliber football and we’re gaining respect. The Morehouse community has a very good football team; very entertaining.” In three seasons under Freeman, the Fighting Maroon Tigers have won 20 of 30 games and have won at least six games each season since Freeman’s arrival in 2007. Last season’s team finished 7-3 and just missed getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs, which would have been a first for the Morehouse football program. Though Southern Intercolle giate Athletic Conference coaches forecast a fifth-place finish for this year’s Maroon Tigers, Freeman bases his belief in the team’s quali ty on an abundance of talent on both sides of the football. On offense, sophomore run ning back David Carter, a sec ond-team All-SIAC pre-season pick, returns to lend stability to a unit that is still trying to find a quarterback. Senior William Brack returns as quarterback, but Freeman has opened up competition for the starting job. Senior Dajuan Thigpen and redshirt freshman Donnay Ragland are vying for the “spot, as is junior college transfer Myron Ingram, who once played at Georgia Tech. “Ingram is a 6’5,” 220-pound kid with arguably the strongest arm I’ve seen since Tavaris Jackson [a quarterback with the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings], whom I had Running back David Carter (left) and linebacker Charlie Wilson (right) are two of the main players for the Morehouse football team this season. rW' l m m a! the privilege to coach at Alabama State,” Freeman said. “This kid is extremely talented. He can run; he’s experienced; he’s smart; and he catches on fast. He’s a good kid.” Two pre-season all-conference performers, defensive lineman Derrin Nettles and linebacker Charlie Wilson, return to lead the defense. Freeman said Nettles, a senior, is an NFL prospect, while Wilson, a junior, won multiple conference and regional honors. “We return eight starters on defense,” Freeman said. “I look for our defense to be extremely tough. I’m thinking if things work out, this will probably be our best defense since I’ve been here.” Senior kicker and punter Ian Mullen, who led the SLAC in both areas last year, was also a pre-sea- son All-SIAC pick. It all makes Freeman confident that the 2010 Maroon Tigers are a team worth watching this season. ■ m MOREHOUSE COLLEGE MAROON TIGERS 2010 FOOTRALL SCHEDULE AUGUST 28th SEPTEMBER Benedict College (Palmetto Capital City Classic) Columbia, S.C. 4th Fort Valley State University Ft. Valley, Ga. 11th Lane College B.T. Harvey Stadium 18 th Kentucky State University B.T. Harvey Stadium 25th OCTOBER Lincoln University B.T. Harvey Stadium 9th Tuskegee University (76th Annual Tuskegee-Morehouse Football Classic) Columbus, Ga. 16th Stillman College Tuscaloosa, Ala. 23rd Albany State University (Homecoming) B.T. Harvey Stadium 30th NOVEMBER Clark Atlanta University Atlanta, Ga. 6th Miles College Fairfield, Ala. 4 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 5 p.m. 2 p.m. 2 p.m. I p.m. Morehouse Wins SIAC Commissioners Award This summer, More house captured the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Con ference Commissioners All Sports Award which goes to the conference school with the best all-around perform ance in all sports each season. Morehouse won the award on the strength of Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Con ference championship sea sons by the Morehouse golf, tennis, track and field, and cross country teams during the 2009-2010 school year, It is the third consecutive year that the College was named the conferences most successful athletic program and fourth in the past six years. ■ *Home games in BOLD.