The Tuskegee University football team dropped their second conference game of the season falling to Central State 40-36 Saturday afternoon in rainy and cold Wilberforce, Ohio inside McPherson Stadium. The loss gave the Marauders its first win over the Golden Tigers since 1949 as the two teams have only met in nine meetings.
 
Both teams exchanged scores on the first two possessions of the game. Justice Owens put TU on the board first with a 12-yard touchdown run that took up six plays on 59 yards, which tied the game at 7-7. A one-yard touchdown run later in the first quarter by Jerry Lanier gave CSU its lead back making the score 14-7 at the 7:05 mark of the first quarter. Three plays and 63 yards later, Skegee's Owens would once again tie the game at 14-14 with his nine-yard touchdown run.
 
Ahmad Deramus passed for a career high 300 yards, completing 17 of 33 passing attempts and three touchdowns, including a 10-yard TD pass to Alex Mitchell and 40-yard strike to Steven Hodges in the third quarter that would put the Golden Tigers ahead 28-14 at the 12:38 mark.

Momentum shifted with 1:07 left to play in the third quarter and TU holding onto a 28-26 lead when Central State's Kevin Greenhow was on the receiving end of 32-yard touchdown pass, that propelled the Marauders to a 33-28 lead.
 
Javarrius Cheatham led TU's receiving core hauling in seven passes for 122 yards along with one touchdown.  None was bigger than his 13-yard touchdown catch from Deramus with 8:59 left in the game. Owens converted on a two-point conversion that gave the Golden Tigers a 36-33 lead. CSU would quickly respond after Mays once against connected with Saffold on a 68-yard touchdown pass that put Central State up for good and rounded out the scoring by a final of 40-36 after the PAT.
 
Kalil Gray finished with a game-high 16 tackles including 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the Golden Tigers on defense. Davoris Thomas added 14 stops while Jamal Odom chipped in 10 tackles.

The SIAC West Division is on the line next Saturday as Tuskegee plays at rival Miles College. Live coverage on the Tuskegee Digital Network starts at 1:55 p.m.