Manatee Review

A broken play on a potential game-winning field goal attempt resulted in broken hearts for Edward Waters as visiting Clark Atlanta scored the go-ahead touchdown to steal a 39-34 decision on Saturday afternoon at Glover Community Field & Stadium.

Penalties and a slow offensive start once again proved to be the Tigers (0-2, 0-1 SIAC) undoing in the home opener as EWU racked up 11 penalties for 105 yards, their second straight game with 10+ penalties for 100+ yards. Clark Atlanta's rushing attack proved to be problematic for the Edward Waters defense as several times in the contest, the Panthers gashed the Tigers on huge runs.

CAU scored the opening touchdown of the contest with 5:00 remaining, but on the ensuing kickoff, senior Ferante Cowart scampered 98 yards for a touchdown to give EWU a 7-6 lead. 

The Panthers took the lead back in the late stages of the first quarter on a touchdown run to go up 13-7. They added a field goal with 12:00 remaining until halftime to stretch their lead out to 16-7. Senior RB Deshaun Hugee ran a wheel route on the ensuing posession and hauled in a 33-yard TD to bring EWU within two points of the lead at 16-14. Clark Atlanta added a touchdown just before halftime to go up 23-14 at the break.

The second half kickoff went the Tigers way once again as Cowart scored his second touchdown, this time of the 95-yard variety to make it a 23-20 to start the 3rd. CAU QB Sean Stephens scored on a 2-yard TD to push the lead to 10 at 30-20 and later added three more on a field goal to give the Panthers a 33-20 advantage.

Cowart scored his third touchdown of the game, this time on a 43-yard TD reception to bring the Tigers closer at 33-27 to close out the 3rd. Junior RB Tyler King hit paydirt in the fourth quarter to give the lead at 34-33 in the late stages of the game. 

Then on the final play of the contest, a botched snap on what would have been the game winning field goal, turned out to be the game winning touchdown as CAU's holder found his tight end to give the Panthers the victory.

Edward Waters will look to regroup next Saturday, September 10th, as they will host Savannah State at 6:00pm at Glover Community Field & Stadium. It will be an opportunity for the Tigers to perform in front of a national audience as the contest will be aired live on ESPN+.

Original source can be found here.