Saturday, a late Clark Atlanta comeback fell short as the Panthers fell to Atlanta University Center rival, Morehouse College, 35-26 at CAU Panther Stadium.

The Panthers end the season 2-8, 0-6 in the SIAC while Morehouse ends their season 4-6, 4-2 in conference play.

In the annual battle between cross-street neighboring schools, CAU fell behind early, 28-0 after Michael Sims threw two first half touchdown passes, Daylon Land picked off an Elijah Odom pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown, and Earnest Davis added a 27-yard TD run.

Shariif Brown then came in at quarterback for CAU and drove the Panthers 58 yards in seven plays, with his 13-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Wimberly capping off the drive, to put Clark Atlanta on the board 28-7 just before halftime.

The second half saw the CAU defense clamp down and hold the Maroon Tigers' offense scoreless the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, Brown kept the CAU offense moving, throwing an 8-yard TD to Wimberly and rushing for a one-yard touchdown to pull Clark Atlanta to within eight at 28-20 (Carlos Saldana's extra point try after the second touchdown was no good) heading into the fourth quarter.

While the CAU defense continued to hold the Maroon Tigers offense to just two punts through the fourth quarter, Brown kept the CAU offense moving.  CAU got the ball with 8:35 remaining when Brown led the Panther offense down field.  His 1-yard TD plunge after a `12-play, 80-yard drive, pulled CAU to within two points with 3:51 remaining.  But his ensuing pass attempt on the 2-point try failed, leaving the score 28-26.

On the next drive, the CAU defense did exactly what they needed to do – they held the Maroon Tigers offense to minus-14 yards on three plays, forcing Morehouse to punt.

Clark Atlanta got the ball with 2:17 remaining on their own seven yard line, looking to drive for a late TD or a field goal for the win. 

Two Brown passes fell incomplete on first and second downs.  Then on third down, Brown was sacked at the goal line and then fumbled.  The ball was recovered by Morehouse's Elijah Campbell Jr in the end zone for the touchdown.  The extra point made it 35-26 with 1:52 remaining.

CAU wasn't able to move the ball on their final possession.

Brown finished 15-of-25 for 209 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 27 yards and two TDs. Drakar Jerry had six receptions for 120 yards, while Ronnie West caught three passes for 38 yards.  Jeremiah Gibbs led CAU rushers with 40 yards on the ground, including a long run of 14 yards.

Defensively, Clark Atlanta was led by Rodney Lewis who had nine tackles, seven of them solo, and one tackle for loss. Xavier Hopkins had eight stops, six of them solo.  Aderrius Barron finished with seven tackles, one for a loss.  Frankie Cullum had four tackles and a sack, while Timothy Jones had three tackles, an interception and a pass breakup.

Frank Bailey Jr. led Morehouse with 110 yards rushing on 23 attempts. He also had 103 yards on four kickoff returns.  Quarterback Michael Sime completed eight of 21 passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns and an interception.   Daniel Norman led the Morehouse defense with seven tackles, two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.  The Morehouse defense had eight sacks on the day.