Quarterback Johnathon McCrary threw two touchdowns while Jajuan Lankford and Matthew Daniels led a ground game that piled up nearly 200 yards as the Clark Atlanta University Panthers defeated Lane College 31-7 Saturday.

The Panthers (3-1, 1-0 SIAC) defense forced Lane (1-3, 0-1 SIAC) into five first-half punts and five second-half turnovers.  Harding Harper had 12 tackles (seven unassisted) and Jaquatin Victrum had ten tackles and an interception to lead a defense that had four players with interceptions (Victrum, Kenneth Morgan, Quantavious Singletary, and Kamari Jackson).  Singletary also recovered a fumble.

"I thought defensively our guys played the game play-by-play and, even with the times Lane had drives, they ended up in turnovers," said CAU head coach Kevin Ramsey.  "We had four interceptions and one fumble recovery and any time you create five turnovers, you're sitting pretty solid."
  
On offense, Lankford rushed for 86 yards while Daniels had six carries for 64 yards and a touchdown. McCrary was 11-of-21 for 183 yards passing, including an 81-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Morris that put the Panthers up 10-0 early in the second quarter.  Lane closed the gap to 10-7 with a TD pass of their own, but McCrary and Morris linked up for a 20-yard TD that allowed the Panthers to pull away for the win.

The CAU running game, one of the best in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, rushed for 194 yards, one touchdown and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. 

Morris, a senior tight end, caught three passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns while Jonathan Sanders hauled in four passes for 40 yards.  Kicker Carlos Saldana, the top-ranked kicker in the SIAC heading into the weekend, had a field goal and kicked four extra points.

"Offensively we had the one turnover. You don't want any, but we were able to protect the football more," Ramsey said. "I thought we got the running game going and kind of chewed some clock.  We are also much better offensively as far as executing and looking sound as a football team.  Johnathon suffered wth cramps a week ago and he was kind of sore, but to see him get back into his groove was important."

CAU's win now sets up a big showdown with Grambling State next Saturday in the Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field.  Grambling, a Division 1-FCS team is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and won the HBCU national championship last year. Kickoff in Chicago is at 3:30 p.m. CST.