Week 4 SWAC Football Wrapup
SWAC.org
Alabama State and Alabama A&M scored historic wins Saturday, while Arkansas-Pine Bluff stayed hot winning its third in a row. Prairie View and Texas Southern also won, and Southern fell in Atlanta.
Alabama State 21, Jackson State 14
JACKSON, Miss. -- Leland Baker's interception with 9 seconds left was the eighth turnover forced by Alabama State and sealed a 21-14 win over Jackson State on Saturday.
It was tied at 7-7 midway through the third quarter when Saeed Lee returned one of Alabama's six interceptions 20 yards to put the Hornets (3-1, 3-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) up for good with 8:39 left in the third.
Alabama State then went up 21-7 after Kejuan Riley's second interception of the game set up a 10-play, 56-yard scoring drive. Quendarius McKibbens capped the drive on a 4-yard touchdown run with 3:31 to play.
Jackson State (3-1, 1-1) made it 21-14 on Casey Therriault's 25-yard score to Marcellous Wider early in the fourth quarter, but it was too late to overcome the giveaways.
Nick Andrews had seven catches for 79 yards to become one of five Alabama State players with more than 2,000 receiving yards.
Alabama A&M 20, Grambling 14
GRAMBLING, La. -- Kaderius Lacey scored on a 2-yard run with 49 seconds left and Alabama A&M held off a fourth-quarter rally by Grambling State in a 20-14 win on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs (2-1, 1-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) took a 14-0 lead in the third quarter after Lacey's 5-yard touchdown run and Vandric Jackson's 53-yard fumble recovery that went for a score.
Grambling State didn't go away easily. In the fourth, the Tigers used a 4-yard rushing score by Dawrence Roberts and Mario Louis' 77-yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 14-14 with 8:08 to play.
But Alabama A&M went a nine play, 54-yard drive that was capped by Lacey's go-ahead score. Lacey finished with 178 yards rushing on 30 carries.
Roberts rushed for 198 yards on 27 attempts for Grambling State (1-3, 1-2), which honored sports information director Roderick Mosley before the game. The 38-year-old Mosley died of a heart attack on Wednesday.
Texas Southern 14, Alcorn State 7
HOUSTON -- Riko Smalls passed for one touchdown and ran for another to lead Texas Southern past Alcorn State 14-7 on Saturday.
Smalls connected with Kirk Fitzhugh for a 7-yard score in the second quarter and ran 16 yards for a TD in the third quarter for Texas Southern (2-1, 1-1 SWAC). The Tigers' defense did the rest, holding Alcorn State (1-3, 1-3) to nine first downs and just 132 yards of total offense.
Gilbert Martin carried 24 times for 87 yards for Texas Southern, which finished with 173 yards on the ground and 333 total. The Braves' only touchdown came when Terrance Lewis returned a punt 84 yards for a score with 6:40 to play. But the Tigers ran out the clock with a 12-play drive that included punter Francois Ejiofor's 24-yard run on a fourth-and-17 play.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 9, Clark-Atlanta 7
ST. LOUIS -- Adrian Moore ran for 155 yards and Arkansas-Pine Bluff edged Clark Atlanta 9-7 on Saturday in the Gateway Classic at the Edward Jones Dome.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-1) scored on its first possession, capped when Stephen Jones ran 14 yards for a touchdown. But the Golden Lions couldn't get in the end zone again, despite gaining 475 yards in the game. Moore had a 73-yard run to the Clark Atlanta 20-yard line in the second quarter, but Chris Ewald, who missed the extra point after Jones' TD, missed a 30-yard field-goal attempt. Arkansas-Pine Bluff was also penalized 13 times for 115 yards.
Ewald did make a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter, making the score 9-0, and that was enough to hold on against the Division II school. Clark Atlanta (2-2) scored with 6:58 remaining on Davis Anderson's 3-yard run.
Florida A&M 38, Southern 33
ATLANTA -- Lavante Page rushed for five touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter, as Florida A&M rallied to defeat Southern University 38-33 on Saturday at the Georgia Dome.
Page scored on a 2-yard run with 3:38 remaining in the game for the go-ahead touchdown as the Rattlers (2-2) erased a 33-17 deficit over the final 15:11.
The Rattlers picked off Southern quarterback Dray Joseph three times, including twice in the fourth quarter. Florida A&M's John Williams intercepted a pass that set up a drive ending with Page's 1-yard touchdown run with 11:09 to play. That cut Southern's lead to 33-31. Marvin Ross sealed the win for the Rattlers with an interception with less than a minute to go.
Page ended the game with 73 yards rushing on 16 carries.
Southern (1-3) led 19-17 at halftime on a 1-yard run by Sylvester Nzekwe with 36 seconds remaining in the half.
Prairie View A&M 43, Mississippi Valley State 34
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- Fred Anderson rushed for two touchdowns within a 23-second span in the fourth quarter to help Prairie View A&M come from behind for a 43-34 win against Mississippi Valley State on Saturday night.
Anderson's 3-yard TD run capped a 95-yard drive and gave the Panthers (2-2, 2-1 SWAC) a 33-28 lead with 14:49 remaining. After the kickoff, Mississippi Valley backup quarterback Marvin Pittman fumbled, and Donald Law returned the ball to the 6-yard line. On the next play, Anderson scored to give Prairie View A&M a 12-point cushion.
Pittman hit Paul Cox with a 31-yard TD pass to get the Delta Devils (0-4, 0-3) within 40-34, but Christopher Barrick kicked a 30-yard field goal for the Panthers with 6:17 remaining.
Jerry Lovelocke was 19 of 23 for 242 yards and touchdown for Prairie View A&M. Anderson ran for 91 yards.
Cox had six catches for 137 yards and two TDs.