Unfazed by multiple weather delays, the Rattlers of Florida A&M were able to effectively control the clock and run the football on the way to claiming their first SWAC Championship with a 35-14 victory over Prarie View.
On just Prairie View’s fifth snap of the contest, a Trazon Connely pass was tipped and then intercepted by Javan Morgan and returned to the FAMU 40. A personal foul on the FAMU pushed the Rattlers back 15 yards to the 25-yard line. Four plays later Terrell Jennings ran in from the 1-yard line for the game’s first score at 7-0.
A quick-three and out gave the ball back to the Rattlers, and they marched 57 yards in 7 plays, extending the lead to 14-0 with 4:48 left in the first quarter.
Florida A&M’s next score came at the 10:50 mark of the second quarter when their 9-play 71-yard drive was capped with a 1-yard plunge from Jaquez Yant that put the Rattlers up 21-0.
The Panther finally got on the board late in the first half when they completed a 9-play, 80-yard drive with a Caleb Johnson 8-yard touchdown run that cut the lead to 21-7 heading into halftime.
Prairie View drew even closer in the third quarter at 21-14 when Ahmad Antoine scampered in from 35 yards. FAMU responded on their next possession with a 6-play, 65-yard drive that ended when Jeremy Moussa connected with Marcus Riley on a 32-yard scoring strike that pushed the lead back to multiple scores at 28-14.
The Rattlers tacked on another touchdown early in the fourth quarter on Terrell Jennings’ 33-yard run, which made the score 35-14, which essentially put the game out of reach.
Here is what led to FAMU raising their first-ever SWAC hardware.
FAMU secured the ball
The elements were less than optimal but despite the weather, FAMU was able to hang on to football. The Rattlers did not commit a single turnover on the evening.
A productive FAMU run game
The Rattlers had their second-best rushing output of the season, running for 229, only bested by the 255 FAMU racked up against Texas Southern. Terrell Jennings led the way with 113 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 carries.
Prairie View turnovers
In a game where their margin for errors was rather slim, the Panthers did themselves no favors with 3 t turnovers. Before he had to leave the game with an injury, Prairie View’s starting quarterback threw one interception, while his replacement, Chris Herron was victimized twice by the Rattlers’ defense.
FAMU dominated the time of possession.
Florida A&M held the football for 35:19 to just 24:41 for Prairie View. In the second half, the Rattlers possessed the football for 19:51 of the 30 minutes.
Up next for Coach Willie SImmons and the Rattlers is a meeting with the Howard Bison in the Cricket Celebration Bowl on December 16 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
