JACKSON, Tenn. --
Ja'Khael Rowser continued his strong season on Saturday, opening and closing the scoring for Tuskegee with touchdown runs in the Golden Tigers 27-13 win over Lane Saturday afternoon at J.F. Lane Field. With its second straight win, Tuskegee (5-4, 5-2 SIAC) still has an outside chance of making an appearance in the SIAC Championship Game in two weeks. But first, the Golden Tigers had to dispatch the Dragons (1-9, 1-7), who were closing out their season but were coming off their first win last week.
After the defense stopped Lane on downs on the game's opening drive, Tuskegee handed the ball to Rowser six times during the nine-play drive. The last run went for 17 yards and a touchdown to put the Golden Tigers on the board. On the Dragon's next drive,
Denard Johnson got his first interception of the year and returned it to the Lane 16.
Lorcan Ryans would finish the drive with a 38-yard field goal for a 10-0 advantage late in the opening period.
When Tuskegee got the ball at the start of the second quarter, the offense went on a protracted drive, marching 75 yards in 14 plays, chewing up nearly nine minutes off the clock. Quarterback
Bryson McGrew (165 yards passing) closed the long march with a 16-yard scoring pass to
Jermaine Hardy, Jr. (four catches, 53 yards) for a 17-0 lead with just more than five minutes remaining before the half.
Lane would get on the board before the break but Tuskegee would take a 17-6 lead into halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, Ryans got the Golden Tigers back on the board in the first minute of the fourth with a 35-yard field goal to increase the lead. The defense would get two straight turnovers on downs -m the second one deep in Lane territory - and Tuskegee was finally able to capitalize. Rowser (87 yards rushing) took a handoff on the second play and raced 24 yards for the score and a 27-6 lead with 5:13 to go.
Tuskegee's defense held lane to just 213 yards of total offense, 15 first downs and had five sacks. Jordan Reed had a season-high 10 tackles (eight solo) and two tackles for loss.
Braylon Jessie had three tackles - all of them behind the line of scrimmage - and two sacks.
The Golden Tigers are back in action next week when they host Miles College for Homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
