Fort valley st vs florida a&m

Sheread sparks Florida A&M past Fort Valley State 34-7

Jah’Marae Sheread scored on a 34-yard catch-and-run from quarterback Rasean McKay on fourth down _ breaking five tackles on the way _ to spark Florida A&M to a 34-7 victory over Di...

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021•ASSOCIATED PRESS

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Jah'Marae Sheread scored on a 34-yard catch-and-run from backup quarterback Rasean McKay on fourth down - breaking five tackles on the way - to spark Florida A&M to a 34-7 victory over Division II-member Fort Valley State on Saturday.

McKay's effort on a fourth-and-4 play - in a game that saw a 30-minute lightning delay in the first half - helped the Rattlers (1-1) pull away from a 7-7 halftime tie. McKay took over in the second half for freshman QB Junior Muratovic. A&M's defense got in on the scoring when Isaiah Land forced a fumble on a sack that was scooped up and returned 45 yards for a score by Lerodrick James for a 21-7 lead. Bishop Bonnett added a 12-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

Muratovic connected with tight end Kamari Young for A&M's first TD of the season in the first quarter. The Rattlers were held to two field goals in a 7-6 season-opening loss to Jackson State. Jose Romo-Martinez added two fourth-quarter field goals, including a 49-yarder.

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Florida A&M appeared to be stuck in the same offensive quagmire as last week early on against Division-II Fort Valley State on Saturday.

But after a quarterback switch just before halftime, the Rattlers ignited and scored 24 unanswered points on their way to a 34-7 victory over the visiting Wildcats in their first game at Bragg Memorial Stadium in nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After 665 days in between games on their home field, the Rattlers (1-1) won their seventh consecutive game at Bragg, and beat Fort Valley State (1-1) for the fourth time in a row to improve to 12-10-1 in the all-time series.

FAMU’s defense delivered another strong performance despite one lapse early in the second quarter following an over 30-minute weather delay.

FAMU football:Live updates: FAMU football picks up first win of the season against Fort Valley State

More FAMU football:FAMU's offensive woes in season opener vs. Jackson State can and will be fixed | Rory Sharrock

FAMU Hall of Fame:FAMU Sports HOF welcomes 24 inductees from the class of 2020, 2021 during enshrinement ceremony

Here’s a look at three observations from FAMU’s first victory of the season.

1-FAMU offense showed flashes and finally some rhythm thanks to its pass catchers and Rasean McKay

Freshman quarterback Junior Muratovic made his first collegiate start a week after the Rattlers offense failed to find the end zone in a 7-6 loss to Jackson State last week in the Orange Blossom Classic.

Muratovic threw one touchdown pass to tight end Kamari Young in the first half, but threw a pair of interceptions and struggled to sustain drives ultimately prompting coach Willie Simmons to replace him with McKay, a redshirt junior, for the final series of the first half.

McKay completed 12-of-16 passes for 176 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Muratovic completed 14-of-22 for 127 yards.

"I knew you weren't going to see the last of Rasean McKay," FAMU coach Willie Simmons said. "One game doesn't define an individual. We made the decision to start Junior and he had some struggles early and we decided to go back to Rasean who has some more veteran leadership. He moved us up and down the field."

But it was FAMU’s ability to find its explosive receivers in space on wide receiver screens and short passes which finally led to big chunk plays. One such play came on Xavier Smith’s 38-yard catch and run to give FAMU the lead for good at 14-7.

David Manigo and Young also connected with McKay on such passes in the second half to extend drives.

The uneven play of Muratovic and McKay's positive and negative performances over the first two games leave Simmons still evaluating who his starting quarterback will be heading into next week's game against South Florida.

"We have a quarterback situation that's not necessarily settled," Simmons said. "We'll go look at the film as a staff and make some decisions about which direction we'll go."

2-FAMU’s defense looked fierce again up front, making up for some lapses in its secondary

For the second week in a row, the Rattlers brought consistent pressure up front and disrupted FVSU’s offense. FAMU totaled four sacks and forced a pair of fumbles including one that Nadarius Fagan picked up and returned 44 yards for a touchdown in the second half.

Deonte Williams led the defensive charge with three sacks and both Fagan and Antwan Collier each had tackles for loss, which ended FVSU drives.

"We had some big time plays by the defense," Simmons said. "I always tell those guys to continue to play hard and the ball will bounce your way. Turnovers are always big for us and those guys did a phenomenal job. Stopping the run is something we're always talking about doing and creating turnovers."

Ellrie Allen recorded a late interception as well. BJ Boehler nearly had a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown but the play was nullified by a holding penalty on the return.

The efforts up front helped FAMU make up for some early coverage breakdowns in the secondary which allowed the Wildcats to get some big chunk plays including their lone touchdown when quarterback Tyrell Jackson hit running back Undre Williams for a 17-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7 with under 10 minutes left in the second quarter.

3-Xavier Smith will be one of the most versatile and explosive weapons for FAMU

Smith returned a pair of kickoffs past the 40-yard line including one into Fort Valley State territory in the first quarter. He then showed off his versatility by making the play of the game on his touchdown catch from McKay. On the play, Smith broke three tackles and fought his way into the end zone to put FAMU ahead 21-7.

Smith, a redshirt senior from Haines City, Fla., led all FAMU receivers with 73 yards on five catches, and may have proven he deserves a big role going forward in the Rattlers’ offense.

"He's definitely a weapon. We knew coming into the season as a play caller it's my job to put these guys in good situations, and get him touches to make some big catches," Simmons said. "Great bounce back game for him after the last week's performance. I knew he'd bounce back. Those guys have a ton of ability."

Injury report

FAMU defensive tackle Gentle Hunt exited the game with 7:39 left in the second quarter with what appeared to be a right leg injury. Hunt was helped off the field by team trainers and couldn’t put any weight on his right leg. Hunt was one of the top defensive performers for the Rattlers last week against Jackson State.

Up next

The Rattlers will travel to Tampa next Saturday to take on USF at 7 p.m. The Bulls lead the all-time series 2-0 winning both meetings in Tampa including the most recent, The game will be available on ESPN Plus.

Scoring summary

FVSU 0-7-0-0 - 7

FAMU 7-0-14-13 - 34 

First quarter

FAMU – Young 15 pass from Muratovic (Romo-Martinez kick)

Second quarter

FVSU – U. Williams 16 pass from Jackson (Labat kick)

Third quarter

FAMU – Smith 38 pass from McKay (Romo-Martinez kick)

FAMU – Fagan 45 fumble return (Romo-Martinez kick)

Fourth quarter

FAMU – FG Romo-Martinez 40

FAMU – Bonnett 6 run (Romo-Martinez kick)

FAMU – FG Romo-Martinez 49

Statistics

Passing

FVSU: Jackson 20-38-201-1-0, Golden 1-4-8-0-2; FAMU: McKay 12-16-176-1-0; Muratovic 14-22-127-1-2; Sapp 0-1-0-0-0.

Rushing

FVSU: Fleming 3-20, Williams 7-15; Jackson 6-(-15). FAMU: Bennett 9-69-1, Tillman 7-19, Sapp 1-7, R. Williams 1-7, Muratovic 1-0, Jennings 1-0, Shere 1-(-1), McKay 2-(-4).

Receiving

FVSU: Price 6-72, Bridges 5-59, Steele 3-22, Robinson 4-16, Freeman 1-15. FAMU: Smith 5-73-1, Shere 7-55, Manigo 3-49, Hunter 2-41, Sanders 2-35, Young 2-30, Oxendine 2-18, Bell 1-6, Dixon 2-(-4).

Reach Andre Fernandez at or follow him on Twitter @FernandezAndreC.

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