Florida A&M defeats Howard 30-26 to win Rattlers’ first Cricket Celebration Bowl title
Florida A&M University (12-1) overcame an early double-digit deficit to win its first Cricket Celebration Bowl title, defeating Howard University (6-6) 30-26 on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The Rattlers trailed for three quarters before outscoring the Bison 20-10 in the fourth quarter and forcing two interceptions.
“I can’t say enough about these guys, just what they’ve had to overcome and endure this season,” head coach Willie Simmons said. “We knew coming into the season that we had a chance to be special, but we knew it wouldn’t be given to us easily. … We’re excited to bring the Celebration Bowl trophy back to the SWAC.”
Florida A&M linebacker Isaiah Major, the Southwestern Athletic Conference defensive player of the year, sealed the game with a late interception.
Florida A&M’s Black college football national championship win comes exactly 45 years to the day after the Rattlers became the first and only historically Black college to win an NCAA Division I-AA national championship on Dec. 16, 1978.
The Rattlers become the second SWAC team to win the Celebration Bowl, joining Grambling State University, who took home the trophy in 2016. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference leads the all-time series 6-2.
“Both conferences are really good,” said Florida A&M quarterback Jeremy Moussa, the SWAC offensive player of the year. “But 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. It’s about FAMU [and] how we’re built and how we play.”
Post-game quotes from the coaches
Florida A&M’s Simmons: “I told them at halftime we played our worst half of football all season and we’re down six. ….And after that first half, we settled down. Once we were able to do that we came out and played really good football, but we’ve been a second-half team all season. … That’s the way we train. We tried to be the better -conditioned team and the team that was able to be the last team standing.”
Howard head coach Larry Scott: “It’s never fun to lose. We had opportunities. … Some penalties and turnovers, especially in championship games, those are the things that bite you. 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. However, I’m proud of this football team – proud of what we started, what we’ve been accomplishing, and what we’ll continue to build upon.”
Attendance
The official attendance for the game was 41,108, which is the third-largest crowd in Celebration Bowl history. The 2022 Celebration Bowl, in which North Carolina Central University defeated Jackson State University, had the largest attendance in the game’s history with 49,670 spectators.
Top performers
Major finished the game with six tackles, one tackle for loss and one interception.
Florida A&M redshirt senior Kelvin Dean hauled in three receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Dean scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and was named the offensive most valuable player for the game.
Moussa completed 19 out of 32 passes for 289 passing yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Memorable moments
Six years after taking the helm of Florida A&M’s football program, Simmons was able to add his first championship to his resume.
Three different Rattlers, redshirt junior Kendall Bohler, senior Deco Wilson and Major, caught interceptions in the Celebration Bowl. Three forced interceptions is the most in Celebration Bowl history.
Florida A&M’s flea flicker in the fourth quarter ended up being the game-winning touchdown. Moussa found wide receiver Jah’Marae Sheread for the 38-yard touchdown strike.
Howard running back Ian Wheeler returned the opening kickoff 63 yards to put the Bison in position to score the first touchdown of the game.
Howard defensive end Darrian Brokenburr etched his name into record books when he sacked Moussa in the endzone for the first safety in Celebration Bowl history.
Howard University defensive back Carson Hinton picked off Moussa to give the Bison a 26-24 lead late in the fourth quarter.