LORMAN, Miss. – Outscoring Jackson State 21-0 in the second half, the Alcorn State University football program erased a halftime deficit to defeat the Tigers 35-16 on Senior Day in front of a crowd of 27,297 at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium on Saturday.
Alcorn (5-5, 5-4 SWAC) trailed 16-14 when senior
LaDarrien Davis blocked a punt and freshman
Solomon Muhammad picked it up and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown to flip the momentum in the game. The Braves then added on with a pair of touchdown rushes to pull away as the Alcorn defense shut down JSU (3-8, 3-6 SWAC) in the second half.
The Braves rushed for a season-high 293 yards. They were led by junior
De'Lance Turner who ran for a career-high 129 yards and a touchdown. Freshman quarterback
Noah Johnson rushed for 81 yards and a score, and junior
Silas Spearman recorded 71 rushing yards and a touchdown.
In the air, senior
Collins Moore caught a team and career-high 57 receiving yards.
Defensively, junior O.J. O'Neal wrapped-up a career-high 11 tackles. Freshman
Darrell Henderson notched a career-high eight tackles. The Braves sacked JSU quarterback Jarin Morikawa five times as senior
Darien Anderson was in on the action twice.
Morikawa ended with 257 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns for JSU. DeSean McKenzie notched 92 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Braves limited the Tigers to just 51 rushing yards in the game.
PLAY-BY-PLAY SUMMARY
On the first drive of the game, Anderson recorded two sacks to force a three-and-out for the Braves defense. On Alcorn's first series, Johnson found Moore for a 10-yard first down, followed by an eight-yard rush by Turner and a 15-yard facemask penalty moved the ball to the JSU 25-yard line. The Braves then faced a fourth-and-six when Johnson threw to Moore again for an 18-yard gain. Turner capped off the drive with a three-yard run as he lowered his head and bulldozed his way in to make it 7-0 Alcorn.
The Tigers responded with a quick three-play drive which included a 44-yard deep ball to Jevon Floyd. The scoring play was a 20-yard post route over the middle to McKenzie at the 7:13 mark.
JSU took the lead 14-7 on an eight-yard pass to Shaquil Ward with 2:21 remaining. The drive included another big passing play of 50 yards to McKenzie.
Alcorn answered with a 10-play drive which started with a 12-yard run by Johnson and a 16-yard run by Turner to move to the JSU 44-yard line. A pair of passes to Moore resulted in 29 yards to move to the red zone. On fourth and one from the JSU five-yard line, Spearman ran up the middle for a touchdown to even the score 14-14 with 12:26 to go in the second quarter.
The Tigers had an opportunity to re-gain the lead on their next drive, but a 32-yard field goal attempt by Christian Jacquemin was hooked wide-ride. The Alcorn defense thought it thwarted the drive earlier in the series after an interception by sophomore
Leishaun Ealey, but roughing the passer was called to keep the ball in JSU's hands.
The Braves were forced to punt when a bad snap went over senior
Haiden McCraney's head. McCraney scooped it up in the end-zone and tried to punt it away, but it was blocked and resulted in a safety which made it 16-14 JSU with 4:37 remaining in the half.
In the third quarter, the Tigers attempted 39-yard field goal, but it sailed wide-right with 8:34 on the clock.
The Braves were in need of a big special teams play when Davis was right on que with blocked a punt and Muhammad scooped it up and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown to put Alcorn back on top 21-16 with 2:30 left in the third.
The Tigers marched right back down the field looking to get their lead back as they moved to the Alcorn 35-yard line, but a big sack-fumble by senior
Stacey Garner was recovered by senior
Darien Anderson and ran back to the JSU 33-yard line. On the very next play, Johnson scrambled up the middle for a 33-yard touchdown to increase Alcorn's lead to 28-16 at the start of the fourth quarter.
JSU was threatening again at the Alcorn 32-yard line when freshman
Javen Morrison came through with a big over-the-shoulder interception on a deep pass to give the ball back to the Braves.
Alcorn then was able to flip the field with a 55-yard rush by Turner as he was finally brought down at the JSU 29-yard line. The Braves got into the end-zone on a 13-yard rush by freshman
Tavares Johnson which upped the score to 35-16.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
8:33 – 3-yard run by D. Turner (H. McCraney XP), 11-61-4:40, 7-0 Alcorn
7:13 – 20-yard pass from J. Morikawa to D. McKenzie (C. Jacquemin XP), 3-63-1:15, 7-7
2:21 – 8-yard pass from J. Morikawa to S. Ward (C. Jacquemin XP), 3-54-1:43, 14-7 JSU
2nd Quarter
12:26 – 5-yard rush by S. Spearman (McCraney XP), 10-72-4:46, 14-14
4:37 – Blocked punt by C. Mitchell, safety, 16-14 JSU
3rd Quarter
13:50 – Blocked punt by L. Davis, returned 59 yards by S. Muhammad (H. McCraney XP), 21-16 Alcorn
4th Quarter
14:40 – 33-yard rush by N. Johnson (H. McCraney XP), 1-33-0:08, 28-16 Alcorn
8:54 – 13-yard rush by T. Johnson (H. McCraney XP), 7-80-3:13, 35-16 Alcorn
NOTES
- Before the game, Alcorn honored seniors
Ladonn Bolden,
Detonio Dade,
Eric Foster,
Evan Grimes,
Michael Hurns,
D'Andre Smith,
Edrick Thigpen, Anderson, Davis, Garner, McCraney and Moore.
- The Braves won their eighth consecutive game against a SWAC East Division opponent. They went undefeated against the division for the second year in a row.
- Alcorn beat Jackson State for the second straight year after pulling out a 14-10 road victory last season.
- The Braves have rushed for at least 155 yards in nine of their 10 games this season, including at No. 20 Arkansas. They've run for at least 255 yards in all of their last four games.
- O'Neal nearly doubled his career-high in tackles with 11. His previous best was six against Texas Southern on Oct. 15.
- Henderson almost tripled his career-high in tackles with eight. His previous best was three against No. 20 Arkansas.
- Anderson entered the game ranked eighth in FCS and first in the SWAC in sacks with 0.94 per game. He will improve upon his rank after wrapping up 1.5 sacks in the contest. Anderson is on the Buck Buchanan Watch List which is awarded to the best defensive player in FCS. He's one of seven players on the list.
- The Braves entered the game ranked 11th in FCS in sacks allowed, giving up just 1.00 per contest. They did not allow a sack in the game.
-
Noah Johnson entered the game as the reigning SWAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, College Sports Madness SWAC Offensive Player of the Week and College Football Performance FCS Performer of the Week. He finished with 86 passing and 81 rushing yards.
- Alcorn's captains were Garner, Davis, McCraney. The Braves won the toss and deferred to the second half.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
On how big the win was
"It's big, winning two games going into the SWAC Championship game and having momentum. Our guys have been playing lights out and this coaching staff has done a great job with these young men. The coaches have really been getting on them in order to get them to play the way they are now."
On what was working defensively in the second half
"We wanted to put pressure on the quarterback and establish a new line of scrimmage as a defensive line. Coach [Cedric] Thomas did a great job of pressuring the quarterback and collapsing the pocket. We got some sacks in situations where we really needed them."
On the blocked punt that flipped the game
"Solomon did a great job of scooping and scoring. It changed the game. We stopped them and then scored again on the next two sequences. That blocked punt was a momentum changer."
On 292 rushing yards on offense
"We have a different game plan every week. We have to take what the defense gives us. We were able to feed De'Lance and he got big. The more we gave it to him, the better he got."
Quoting quarterback Noah Johnson
On the offensive line
"We can't do anything without those guys. Dade is the leader and he makes sure everyone knows what they are doing. The offensive line got everything going and we just ran behind those guys."
Quoting defensive back Javen Morrison
On his interception
"It was just a regular play. Coach told us just run a post, I ran it and just made the play. It was a regular game and a regular pick that got us the ball back. After the Southern game our defense started coming together. We started talking and we started getting into the game."
Quoting linebacker Solomon Muhammad
On his touchdown
"I just saw the ball pop out and I knew somebody had to make a play. I knew I had to do it for the team. It just felt natural I had to put my team on my back. I played running back and quarterback in high school, so I trusted my instincts. It was my first time playing against JSU. When I came on my recruiting trip in 2014 it was at the Jackson State versus Alcorn game. They won and that couldn't happen again today."
Quoting running back De'Lance Turner
On the win
"It means a lot to go out and practice every day and then got out and execute, especially like we did in the second half. It's going to give us momentum going into the SWAC Championship game. We have been really in the O-Line's ear telling them that when they play hard no one can mess with them. We just followed their blocks and made our runs."
UP NEXT
The Braves will play either Grambling State or Southern in the SWAC Championship at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Dec. 3.
Alcorn is looking to win its third consecutive SWAC Championship. The Braves defeated Southern 38-24 in 2014 and Grambling State 49-21 last season.
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