Florida A&M won its 12th game of the season on Saturday with a 30-26 comeback victory over Howard.
The Bison, who finished the regular season 6-6, entered Saturday’s game as touchdown underdogs but got off to a blistering start. Senior running back Jarett Hunter found the end zone from eight yards away in the opening minutes for the early lead. After the Rattlers fumbled on their opening possession, Howard’s Kasey Hawthorne scored from three yards out just three minutes later. All of a sudden, 11-1 Florida A&M was down 14-0 in the opening five minutes.
After a stagnant second and third quarter left the Howard lead 16-10, Florida A&M quarterback Jeremy Moussa helped his team surge ahead in the fourth quarter. He connected with running back Kelvin Dean for two long touchdowns in three minutes, first a 21-yarder to take the lead before a 53-yard catch-and-run made the score 24-16 in favor of the Rattlers.
Then, after all the work to overcome the initial deficit, disaster struck. Howard’s Carson Hinton intercepted Moussa and ran it back 27 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bison the lead once more at 26-24.
The Rattlers quarterback bounced back, however, throwing his third touchdown of the day to put Florida A&M back on top with less than six minutes remaining. After a pair of interceptions from Howard quarterback Quinton Williams on the Bisons’ final two drives, the Rattlers’ 12th win of the year was official.
Here are the best images from the Cricket Celebration Bowl.