Each December MEAC and SWAC champions get together for the Celebration Bowl it makes for great theater, and the latest matchup lived up to the action, suspense, and drama.
The Florida A&M Rattlers emerged victorious on Dec. 16, defeating the Howard University Bison 30-26.
These are the competitions that make champions, and with 7:55 remaining in the game, the Bison trailed 24-19. Seconds later, Dylan White read Jeremy Moussa’s eyes to pick off a behind-the-line-of-scrimmage pass for a pick-six touchdown play that gave the Bisons a 26-24 lead with 7:09 remaining.
That didn’t strike fear in the Rattlers, and head coach Willie Simmons called a flea-flicker play that worked to perfection and scored a touchdown, giving them a 30-26 lead.
“We had a couple of plays there we were saving to use just at the right time,” Moussa said after the game.
“I’ll tell you, it never worked in practice,” Simmons said.
To seal the deal, Isaiah Major, the SWAC defensive player of the year, caught a late interception and the Rattlers came out victorious.
“Great day to be a Rattler,” Simmons said. “You can’t say enough about these guys, just what they had to overcome and endure this season. We knew coming in this season we had a chance to be special, but we knew it wasn’t going to be given to us easily. They scratched, they clawed, they bled, they sweat, they cried even, and they went to work every day.”
On the other hand, Bison head coach Larry Scott says his team played a good game, but it just wasn’t enough for a win.
“It’s never fun to lose. We had opportunities. … Penalties and turnovers, especially in championship games, those are the things that bite you,” Scott said. “We couldn’t do enough to overcome that. One thing we pride ourselves on not doing is beating ourselves, and we kind of did that a little bit and hurt ourselves in that regard.”
Dec. 16 made it 45 years to the day since FAMU became the first Black college to win the NCAA Division 1-AA national championship.
Both conferences are really good,” Moussa said. “I think we show that we’re a different kind of team. No matter what conference we’re playing, MEAC versus SWAC, it doesn’t really matter.”
