After Clark scored on its opening drive, Tuskegee would respond with a nine-play 56-yard drive but would have to settle for a 25-yard Huskic Arnes field goal after the drive stalled in the red zone with a penalty, making the score 8-3 after of a pair of opening possessions.
CAU would drive the ball into TU territory again, but Darnell Hill ended things with an interception, ending any threat of another score for the Panthers.
Early in the second quarter while attempting to throw the ball from its own end zone, Deramus was hit by Kam Rogers causing him to fumble the ball resulting in a safety, which gave the Panthers a 10-3 lead.
Perhaps the biggest momentum shift of the game came when Deramus found a streaking Javarrius Cheatham for a 34-yard touchdown pass to end the first half and tie the game at 10-10.
CAU opened the third quarter with a fumble returned 42 yards for a touchdown to take a 17-10 lead. A deficit the Golden Tigers would face until the start of the fourth quarter when the Deramus to Cheatham connection would strike again with a three-yard touchdown pass. The drive took up nearly six minutes on nine plays and 54 yards, which tied the game 17-17.
Freshman running back Ivonte Patterson paced TU’s ground game with 62 yards on 12 carries. Deramus completed 10 of his 17 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns including a 55-yard bomb to Peyton Ramzy with 8:16 left to play. That scored proved to be the difference, rounding out the scoring at 24-17
Davoris Thomas and Darnell Hill each finished with an interception. Ricky Norris led the Golden Tigers with nine tackles while Devonta Ramsuer totaled eight.
The TU defense held CAU to 93 yards rushing and only allowed the Panthers to convert 3-of-10 on third down conversions.
The Golden Tigers will play its home opener next Saturday hosting Missouri S&T. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. with live video coverage on the Tuskegee Digital Network at 12:55 p.m.
