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11
INSIDE MOREHOUSE, OCTOBER 2012
‘CARRYING US’
Freeman Puts 2012 Maroon Tiger Season on Senior David Carter’s Shoulders
BY ADD SEYMOUR JR.
H ead football coach Rich Freeman doesn’t need to finish
the 10-game schedule to find out who the team’s most
valuable player is. He knows that person is senior run
ning back David Carter.
“You usually don’t pick that player until the conclusion of the
season,” Freeman said. “But our team is pretty much riding on his
shoulders. He knows that and I think he accepts those challenges.”
The 2012 Maroon Tigers lost their top quarterback from last
year. And while junior quarterback Donnay Ragland has been
a strong replacement, Freeman believes the running game will
have to be the main thrust for this year’s team.
Carter’s production during his four years at Morehouse has
allowed Freeman to be comfortable with putting the team’s for
tunes in Carter’s hands... and feet
“Quietly, we’ve been doing that for the last two years,”
Freeman said. “We’ve been able to trick people and do it in a
high-paced fashion. But at the end of the day, it’s almost three-
yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust kind of football. David has done a
good job in carrying us, and we’re just making it known that he’s
obviously carrying us.”
Carter is coming off a season in which he was a Division II
All-American; the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s
Player of the Year, and a finalist for the Harlan Hill Award,
Division II’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
This season, Carter, a business management major from
Marietta, Ga, has continued his stellar play. Against Edward
Waters College, he became the school’s all-time leading rusher,
eclipsing John David Washington’s four-year mark of 3.669
yards from 2002 to 2005. As of the Edwards Waters game, he
had 3,848 yards rushing.
“The offensive line has been doing a good job, so my success
is because of them,” said Carter. “We spread the ball around with
the pass, which opens up the running game. The defense is get
ting stops and the offense is going to put points on the board So
I have a lot of confidence in our team. But the team resting on
my shoulders? It’s okay. I like the pressure. I’m just having fun
running the ball.”
Freeman said he too has plenty of confidence in the rest of
his team. The defense is stout - though they’ve had a lot of inju
ries early - and the team is confident
“But our strong point right now is being able to just line up
and say, ‘If need be, we can run the ball 79 times and we can put
up at least 30 points a game.
It’s Carter’s time. He has an outstanding work ethic, he’s a
good kid, he’s a humble kid. He’s not going to abuse that luxury
of being our most valuable player. And he’s not going to over
look the steep challenge with us attempting to ride on his back
for the duration of the season.” ■
Go to http://athletics.morehouse.edu tor more infor
mation about the 2012 Maroon Tigers football team
and the 2012 football schedule.
Senior David Carter (No. 32) leads the Maroon Tigers this season.
Morehouse Faculty and Staff Members
Tackle the Peachtree Road Race
E ight Morehouse faculty and staff members took to the streets on July 4 to take
part in one of Atlanta’s biggest Independence Day traditions: running in the
Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Peachtree Road Race. More than 60,000 runners took
part in the race, which is the world’s largest 10k race. The Morehouse contingent
included, from left to right, John Williams ’69, dean of Business Administration
and Economics; Rubina Malik, director of the Morehouse Executive Mentorship
Program; Curtis Augustin, applications administrator; Melissa Bailey, administrative
assistant, Alumni Relations; Greg Goodwin, Student Services; and Francine Allen,
assistant professor of English. ■
Cross Country Team Ranked Fifth in the South Region
THE MOREHOUSE COLLEGE CROSS COUNTRY team is ranked among the
nation’s best, according to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches
Association (USTFCCCA).
The Maroon Tigers are ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II South Region by
the USTFCCCA in its first regional rankings of the 2012 cross country season.
Sophomore Novian Middleton has led the Maroon Tigers this season. The
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s Runner of the Week for the week of
Sept. 21, Middleton finished third in the Fleet Feet Sports/Earl Jacoby Memorial
Invitation’s 8K and 5K races.
The SLAC also named Chris Wilder, Kasahun Neselu and Michael Wooten
among the conference’s top runners for the first week of the season. ■
Nigerians Call Christopher Doomes ’93
to Help Coach Their Olympic Track Team
BY ADD SEYMOUR JR.
A ssistant track and field coach Chris Doomes
’93 was told to be ready for Innocent
Egbunike’s phone call. He had no idea when
the call would come or what it would be about.
Egbunike, a former African world champion
sprinter, has become one of track and field’s
most respected coaches. Connected years before
by Morehouse head coach Willie Hill, Doomes
had helped Egbunike train athletes before. The
African loved the Morehouse Man’s work.
“He’d said, ‘There’s an opportunity that’s
going to arise and I’m going to call you and I
don’t want to hear any excuses,”’ Doomes said.
The call came in March 2012. Egbunike
was named head coach of the Nigerian Olympic
team in the London 2012 Olympics and he
wanted Doomes to be his assistant.
Egbunike then flew to Atlanta to meet with
Hill to ask permission.
“He said, “With the success of your program, with what you’ve done, what I’ve
seen your assistant do and what you’ve taught him, if possible, I want him to be
my assistant this summer,”’ Hill remembered.
Hill and athletic director Andre Patillo gave their approval and Doomes was
off to Nigeria in June.
There, though the time was short, he and Egbunike helped train the men’s
and women’s teams for the Nigerian Olympic trials and the African World
Championships.
“After 12 years of Nigeria not doing well in the African Championships, they
actually won the African Championship,” Doomes said proudly.
The teams then went on to London, where they had a good showing. The
Nigerian women did extremely well with sprinters making the finals of the 100-
meter dash and the 4x400 meter dash.
For Doomes, who has been Hill’s assistant for the past 18 years, being able to
call himself an Olympic coach was the thrill of a lifetime - even if it wasn’t for the
United States.
“Whether it’s for the U.S., Nigeria, Great Britain or whomever, that’s the pin
nacle - to be an Olympic coach,” he said. “With the success of the program we
have, people look at it and they are constantly getting in contact with Coach Hill.
That’s what I had with the Nigerian team. It was just very exciting.” ■
Go to http://athletics.morehouse.edu/index.aspx?path=mtrack&tab=trackandf
ield for more information about the Morehouse Maroon Tigers track and field
program.
Christopher Doomes '93