DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Alcorn State University football program held a 13-7 lead in the second quarter against Bethune-Cookman when lightning struck Sunday at Municipal Stadium in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.
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The Battle by the Beach went through a two hour and 57-minute delay before officially being ruled no contest. The game will not be made up.
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Alcorn (0-0) saw junior quarterback
LENORRIS FOOTMAN throw two touchdowns after going 8-for-9 in the air for 95 yards. He connected in the endzone with senior
JABORIAN MCKENZIE and junior
DE'LANCE TURNER.
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B-CU (0-0) commenced the scoring early in the second quarter when quarterback Larry Brihm lofted a deep ball to wide receiver Jontavious Carter who found space on a double move for a 28-yard touchdown reception.
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The Braves responded with an 8-play, 76-yard scoring drive to tie the game at seven. The drive was capped off by McKenzie's 36-yard touchdown reception from Footman. Footman pump faked to junior
MARQUIS WARFORD in the flat before finding McKenzie in space on the seam.
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Junior defensive back
NICK BROWN forced Brihm to fumble on the Wildcats first play of their next drive and senior
D'ANDRE SMITH jumped on the loose ball, giving Alcorn prime field position inside the red zone at the B-CU's 18-yard line. On the next play from scrimmage, Footman floated an 18-yard pass to Turner for a score. Freshman
COREY MCCULLOUGH's extra-point attempt was blocked as Alcorn held a 13-7 advantage.
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The Braves forced a three-and-out on the Wildcats next possession and was set to begin their drive before play was halted with 7:14 left in the second quarter.
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Alcorn's captains were Footman and seniors
STACEY GARNER and
EVAN GRIMES. Bethune-Cookman won the coin toss and chose to receive.
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The Braves will play their home and conference opener on Saturday, Sept. 10 against Alabama State on Hall of Fame and High School Day. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN3 at 6 p.m.
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Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
No Score
2nd Quarter
12:50 – 28-yard pass from L. Brihm to J. Carter (U. Hernandez XP), 7-54-2:01 B-CU 7-0
8:51 – 36-yard pass from L. Footman to J. McKenzie (C. McCullough XP), 8-76-3:51 7-7
8:25 – 18-yard pass L. Footman to D. Turner (C. McCullough XP blocked), 1-18-0:09 Alcorn 13-7
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Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"Well you know it's kind of frustrating. You want to see what kind of players you're putting on the field. I think the first quarter and a half was trying to see what you've been working toward in camp. It's just frustrating because it's the first game and the kids wanted to play. But the environment wouldn't let us - the water is too bad right now. We just have to go back and evaluate what we have, see what kind of mistakes we made and learn from those."
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On what he liked from the quarter and a half of play
"I saw a lot of good things. This team is going to be very good once we get a hold of a few things and correct everything we need to correct. We are going to be a good team. The up-tempo structure had our defense playing fast. Coach Thomas and that side of the ball are doing a great job playing defensively sound football. Offensively, we will continue to play fast. That's what we've been doing and we will continue to do that and keep working."
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Quoting Alcorn defensive coordinator Cedric Thomas
On the defense's performance…
"Early on there were some kinks that we had to get worked out. Overall, in the plays that they ran, we were kind of impressed. Conditioning was a big thing and it looked like we were in really good shape. We did a good job rallying to the football but still have a long way to go. We are going to go back and watch the film, make corrections and proceed on to Alabama State."
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On the defensive line's impressive performance…
"Well that's what we expected from those guys. They were very productive. Once we check the film we'll see that those guys got a lot of quality on the possession sheet. Just like what we thought, those guys are battle tested and we are going to lean on them a lot up front."
#FearTheBrave
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