ATLANTA, Ga. - The Howard University Bison fell to the No. 5 Rattlers of Florida A&M University 30-26 in the 2023 Cricket Wireless Celebration Bowl.  

HU quarterback Quinton Williams went 14-of-27 for 106 yards with a long of 22 yards. Eden James led the rushing game with 55 total yards on the ground with a long of 13 yards. Jarett Hunter and Kasey Hawthorne each ran for a touchdown. Nah'Shawn Hezekiah recorded 46 yards through the air with a long of 22 yards. The Bison defense recorded two sacks and two interceptions.  

The Bison started off hot scoring 14 first quarter points and taking control of the momentum in the game. The two touchdowns for Howard came off a pair of running plays from Jarett Hunter and Kasey Hawthorne. The run from Hunter was for eight yards, while the rushing touchdown from Hawthrone was for three yards.  

The Rattlers found the scoreboard a little over a minute and a half into the second quarter that put the score at 14-7 with the Bison still in the lead. Howard added two more points to its total when Darrian Brokenburr sacked FAMU’s quarterback Jeremy Moussa in the endzone for a safety. FAMU added a field goal to their total with 11 seconds remaining in the half putting the score at 16-10 heading into halftime. 

After a scoreless third quarter, Florida A&M evened the score at 16 all with a touchdown pass to Kelvin Dean and took the lead on the point after claiming their first lead of the game, 17-16. Moussa connected with Dean for a second time in three minutes and the point after kick was good putting the Rattlers ahead 24-16 with nearly 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.  

The Bison closed the gap to five points, 24-19, following a field goal from Aaron Bickerton and a pick-six by Carson Hinton, and the good point after kick, gave the Bison the 26-24 lead with 7:14 remaining. The Rattlers reclaimed the lead, 30-26, following a 38-yard touchdown pass from Moussa to Jah’Marae Sheread with 5:46 on the clock. Howard went three and out on their next drive and Quinton Williams had a pass intercepted as Florida A&M held on to claim the win.  

With the loss, the MEAC moves to 6-2 in the Celebration Bowl games.