From swac.org:
Around the SWAC
Texas Southern 42, Mississippi Valley State 14
Grambling State 45, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 38 (OT)
Alabama A&M 27, Alabama State 10
Southern 41, Jackson State 7
Featured Game of the Day
Alcorn State 27, Prairie View A&M 13
PRAIRIE VIEW, TX – For the third time this year, the Alcorn State University football program went on the road for Homecoming and walked away with a victory as the Braves ousted Prairie View A&M 27-13 Saturday at Panther Stadium.
The Braves (7-2, 5-1 SWAC) defense did not allow a touchdown. The lone PVAMU (3-5, 2-2 SWAC) touchdown came on a kickoff return. Alcorn sacked Jalen Morton five times, and junior Brelion Hollis wrapped-up a career-high 12 tackles.
The Braves also got their hands on two interceptions from senior Leishaun Ealey and sophomore Qwynnterrio Cole.
Alcorn held a 512-235 advantage in total yards, including a 249-61 disparity in rushing. Junior Deshawn Waller led the ground game with 120 yards and a touchdown. Junior Noah Johnson rushed for 81 yards to go along with his 263 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Johnson’s touchdown passes were caught by senior Dayall Harris and junior Chris Blair. Harris finished with 81 receiving yards, while Blair hauled in 63.
Morton ended with 174 passing yards for PVAMU on 16-for-33 passing and two interceptions. Dawonya Tucker, who entered the game as the league’s leading rusher, was limited to 60 yards on 15 attempts.
The Braves fumbled the opening kickoff of the game and the Panthers recovered at the 11-yard line. A good defensive stand by Alcorn, including run-stopping tackles by Cole and junior Solomon Muhammad, resulted in a 22-yard field goal attempt that was no-good.
After the Braves went three-and-out offensively, the PVAMU marched down the field on its second drive and got on the board with a 22-yard field goal by Zach Elder to take a 3-0 lead at the 8:04 mark. The big plays on the series were catches of 29-yards and 20-yards, respectively, by Tristen Wallace. The Panthers had 1st-and-goal at the Alcorn 5 when the Braves made a red zone stop.
Alcorn got-going offensively on its second drive. A 29-yard screen pass to Blair to the left moved the ball into Panthers territory. Johnson then found Blair again as he hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass between to defenders and hung on as he was tackled into the end zone. It gave the Braves a 7-3 lead with 5:35 remaining.
On the ensuing kickoff, Bernard Goodwater ran back an 81-yard touchdown to put the Panthers back on top 10-7 with 5:22 to go. It was a short kick, and Goodwater found a large hole to the left as he was off to the races.
The Braves offense was on the move again late in the first. After a 10-yard first down run by senior P.J. Simmons, Johnson took off for a 44-yard rush as he faked the hand-off and kept it himself to the left and was tackled at the PVAMU 19. However, Alcorn was backed up by a holding penalty and settled for a 39-yard field goal which was good by junior Corey McCullough to even it 10-10 with 1:16 left.
PVAMU started at its own 4 early in the second quarter when it put together a long drive and got all the way to the Alcorn 17. Though, on a first down play, Morton was intercepted in the right corner of the end zone by Cole as he leaped up and kept a foot in bounds for the turnover.
After the interception, Johnson threw a slant to Harris over the middle that went for 22 yards. Third down runs of 11 yards by Johnson and 19 yards by Waller moved the ball to the PVAMU 24. The Braves took the lead 13-10 after a 20-yard field goal McCullough at the 3:50 mark.
Alcorn added on before the end of the half. On 2nd-and-20, Johnson was nearly sacked in the backfield but stayed up and found Harris wide-open for a 44-yard touchdown catch. It extended the lead to 20-10 heading into the intermission.
Midway through the third quarter, the Braves got good field position near midfield after an interception by Ealey. A quick pitch to junior Nigel Wood went for 16 yards, and a 16-yard reception by senior Raidarious Anderson made it first down at the PVAMU 16. Alcorn settled for a 29-yard field goal attempt, but it was missed wide-left with 6:06 remaining.
In the fourth quarter, the Panthers chipped into the deficit 20-13 with 5:46 left after a long, 14-play drive. PVAMU had 1st-and-goal at the Alcorn 8 when the Braves made a red zone stop. The Panthers scored on a 31-yard field goal by Elder. The drive took 7:04 off the clock.
The Braves were faced with a 3rd-and-8 on the following series when they kept the drive and clock moving with an 11-yard screen pass to Waller. Alcorn stayed on the ground and ran it for another first down with Waller with 3:30 to go at the PVAMU 47. Johnson followed with a QB-keeper for a first down to the PVAMU 27 with 2:45 left.
The clock ended up not making a difference though as Waller took a hand-off and ran it for 26 yards and a touchdown to give Alcorn a 27-13 edge and put the game away with 1:34 remaining.
–Alcorn State Sports Information
Quick hits
- Texas Southern quarterback Devin Williams completed 14-of-25 passes for 223 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions with his favorite receiver Bobby Hartzog catching nine balls for 148 yards and both scores to lead the Tigers (2-7 overall, 1-3 SWAC).
- Other splash plays for TSU included an 80-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Patrick Howell and a 69-yard touchdown run by Brad Woodward.
- TSU defensive back Sean Jones led the team with 11 tackles and a forced fumble.
- Mississippi Valley State wide receiver Booker Chambers led the Delta Devils (1-6 overall, 1-3 SWAC) core with seven receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown.
- Grambling State quarterback Geremy Hickbottom threw a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime and the Tigers defense held off Arkansas-Pine Bluff on fourth down to rally for a 45-38 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) victory on Saturday afternoon at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.
- The Tigers (4-4 overall, 3-2 SWAC) trailed 38-35 with 4:05 remaining, but Hickbottom led the Tigers down the field with an 11-play, 72-yard drive as Marc Orozco, who became the GSU and SWAC all-time career leader in points scored in the second quarter, booted a 20-yard field goal with 46 seconds left in regulation, tying the game at 38.
- The Golden Lions (1-7, 0-4) had a chance to drive for the potential winning score in the final 40 seconds, but could not get past their own 40 as time expired.
- UAPB running back Taeyler Porter finished with 38 carries for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Porter now leads the conference in rushing yards with 1,037 to go along with nine touchdowns.
- Grambling State junior defensive back Danquarian Fields registered 18 total tackles, including eight solo stops.
- Hickbottom completed 18-of-26 passes for 217 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
- Alabama A&M sophomore quarterback Aqeel Glass completed 17-of-30 passes for 322 yards with three touchdowns with his favorite target being Nathaniel Dell (six receptions, 204 yards, two touchdowns) to lead the Bulldogs (4-3 overall, 3-2 SWAC).
- AAMU junior running back Jordan Bentley had eight carries for 91 yards and a touchdown including one on a 57-yard score in the third quarter to give the Bulldogs the lead that they would not relinquish.
- The attendance for the 77th annual McDonald’s Magic City Classic was 65,906. AAMU now leads the all-time series 40-34-3.
- Alabama State quarterback KHA’Darris Davis completed 21-of-37 passes and tied a career-high with 181 yards with one interception and lead the Hornets (2-5 overall, 1-2 SWAC) in rushing with 12 carries for 53 yards.
- Alabama A&M senior safety Dylan Hamilton led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles and two passes broken up.
- While the game at tied 7-7 at halftime, Alabama A&M outscored Alabama State 20-3 in the second half.
- Southern quarterback Ladarius Skelton passed for one touchdown and ran for another. Skelton ran 15 yards for a touchdown on Southern’s second series and fired 27 yards to Trey Smith for a score to make it 14-0 after one quarter.
- Demerio Houston recovered a Keshawn Harper fumble and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown to put Southern (5-3, 4-1) up 21-0.
- Jackson State (3-4, 2-2) got its lone touchdown on Warren Newman’s 42-yard punt return for a touchdown, but Southern scored on the ensuing kickoff on a 92-yard return by Shontega Thomas.
- Martell Fontenot kicked field goals from 31- and 42-yards out and the Southern defense scored when Jordan Lewis stripped Derrick Ponder on a sack and returned it 36 yards for a score.
