Delta Devils Gain SWAC Win
November 3, 2002
AROUND THE SWAC - Mississippi Valley State gained
their first conference win since the 2000 season with a 26-8 win
over Prairie View A&M. Jackson State showed their resilience,
bouncing back to notch a 42-0 win at Ark.-Pine Bluff. The Braves
of Alcorn State weathered a Southern rally to beat the Jaguars
22-20 and Grambling State was held under fifty points by Texas
Southern, but won by a 42-28 score.
Alabama A&M and Alabama State did not play in week ten.
Mississippi Valley State - 26, Prairie View A&M - 8,
at Itta Bena, MS ( Att: 2,405)
Mississippi Valley State picked up their first Southwestern Athletic
Conference football victory since the 2000 season (12-3 over Alcorn State)
with this 26-8 win over Prairie View A&M and former head coach Larry Dorsey
(1991-99).
The Delta Devils moved out to a 10-0 first quarter lead after a 29 yd FG
(6:29) and a 56-yd punt return for a TD by Fred Akon (4:45). The Delta
Devils gained a 13-0 halftime lead tacking on a 32 yd FG late in the second
quarter (1:30). Prairie View got on the scoreboard in the third quarter to
close the score to 13-8, but MVSU added two fourth quarter TDs for the 26-8
win.
Statistically, the game was close with PVAM gaining 14 first downs to MVSU's
12. Miss. Valley out-gained Prairie View 247 total yards to 237 total yards,
and both teams lost two fumbles. Offensively, PVAM's QB Joseph Vaughn passed
for 137 yds and MVSU's QB Carey Weaver passed for 131 yds. The special team
play of MVSU accounted for a 56 yd TD return by Fred Akon.
Defensively, Miss. Valley's Joseph Crear led all tacklers with 15 tackles (9
solo), with 6 TFL (39) and 5 sacks (38). Prairie View's Corey Stewart
finished the game with 11 tackles (5 solo) with 1 TFL (1) and 1 fumble
recovery.
Jackson State - 42, Arkansas-Pine Bluff - 0, at Pine
Bluff, AR (Att. 2,500)
Jackson State scored in every quarter while rolling over Ark.-Pine
Bluff 42-0.
Tigers' QB Robert Kent ran for one TD and passed for three others as
Jackson State rolled up 466 yds of total offense (232 pass, 234 rush) while
limiting the Golden Lions to 162 yds of offense (102 pass, 60 rush). Jackson
State RB Laurence Nolen rushed for 101 yds and WRs Torrey Ross caught 5
passes for 94 yds and Chris Jones had 5 receptions for 87 yds. Both players
had one TD each.
Defensively, Jackson State LB Elgin Andrews had 10 tackles (3 solo) with 1
TFL (1) and 1 fumble recovery. Ark.-Pine Bluff DB Terrell Hammond also had
10 tackles (4 solo). UAPB punter Aaron Wall punted 7 times for a 40.4
average (283 yds).
Grambling State - 42, Texas Southern - 28, at Houston, TX (Att. 10,635)
Texas Southern's defense held Grambling State under fifty points, but was
unable to keep Grambling QB Bruce Eugene in check as he ran and passed for
562 yds of offense with 6 TDs.
Grambling State moved out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and then a 28-0 lead
mid-way through the second quarter (7:18). Texas Southern struck back with
a 71 yd TD pass to Cortez Hankton (6:58) and a 100-yd interception return by
Oliver Celestin (1:15) to close the score to 28-14 at halftime. Neither team
scored in the third quarter, but both teams matched TD in the fourth
quarter. Grambling State moved out 35-14 on a Gershone Jessie 25 yd pass
from Eugene (13:09), but Texas Southern countered on the ensuing kick-off
with a 98 yd return by Corey Alexander to close the score to 35-21 (12:50).
Just over two minutes later (10:24) Texas Southern marched to another TD and
a 35-28 score, but Grambling State closed out the scoring with a 70 yd TD
pass by Thyron Anderson from Bruce Eugene (4:58) for the final 42-28 score.
Grambling State put up 549 yds in total offense (532 pass, 17 rush) while
Texas Southern generated 297 yds of offense (237 pass, 60 rush). GSU held
the ball for 31:31 and Texas Southern had 28:29 of possession time.
Individually, GSU's Bruce Eugene passed for 532 yds (24-45-1) and 5 TDs,
while rushing 17 times for 30 yds and 1 TD. His favorite targets were Thyron
Anderson, six receptions 205 yds with 3 TD, and Tramon Douglas, 9
receptions, 176 yds with 1 TD. For TSU Carlos Pierson passed for 219 yds
(13-26-3) and 1 TD. WR Toric Goins had 5 catches for 98 yds. Special team's
play for Texas Southern produced two TDs as Corey Alexander had 3 KOR for
186 yds with a98 yd TD and DB Oliver Celestin returned an interception 100
yds for a TD.
Defensively, TSU's Oliver Celestin led all players with 11 tackles (3 solo),
2 TFLs (10), 1 sack (10), 1 PD and 1 intc (100). For Grambling, Michael
Daigre had 8 tackles (6 solo), 3 TFLs (18) and 2 sacks (16).
Alcorn State - 22, Southern - 20, at Baton Rouge, LA (Att. 18,987)
Alcorn State, after a week layoff, jumped out to a 22-6 halftime lead, but
had to hold on for a 22-20 win at Southern University.
The Braves moved on top 7-0, early in the first quarter (13:26) but Southern
came back with their own TD for a7-6 score (10:08). Alcorn's 35 yd FG (1:58)
closed out the first quarter 10-6. Alcorn State scored two more TDs in the
second quarter, including a 72 yd punt return by Kris Peters, for a 22-6
halftime lead.
Southern did all the third quarter scoring with 2 TDs to close the score to
22-20, but neither team was able to score in the fourth quarter.
As a team, Southern generated 473 yds in total offense (289 pass, 184 rush)
and Alcorn State gained 271 yds of total offense (97 pass, 174 rush). Alcorn
lost 2 turnovers (1 fumble, 1 intc) while Southern lost 3 fumbles. Alcorn
State held the ball for 35:16 and Southern had 24:44 in time of possession.
The Braves' RB Andrew Burks rushed for 122 yds and 1 TD, while QB Donald
Carrie passed for 97 yds and 1 TD. For Southern, QB Anthony Fisher passed
for 204 yds and 1 TD, while RB Kenneth Peoples rushed for 90 yds.
Defensively, Southern's LB Chris Cooper had 13 tackles (4 solo), 6 TFLs
(22), 0.5 sack (6) and 1 PD. Alcorn State's LB Dwan Wilson had 10 tackles (3
solo).
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