PVAMU Climbs Out of Early Deficit to Top Alcorn 31-27

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Alcorn State University football program jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, but Prairie View A&M came back to take a 31-27 result Saturday at Panther Stadium.
 
Junior quarterback Lenorris Footman left the field in the second quarter due to a hand injury and did not return.
 
The Braves (3-5, 3-4 SWAC) were sharp on both sides of the ball early. At the end of the first quarter, Alcorn held a 126-19 edge in total yards.
 
The game took a turn near the end of the second quarter when PVAMU (6-3, 6-1 SWAC) put together an 11-play drive to score with 32 seconds left. The Braves misplayed the ensuing kickoff, and the Panthers jumped on top of the loose ball and kicked a field goal to flip momentum going into the half.
 
The Braves rushed for 256 yards in the game including 123 and three rushing touchdowns by freshman Noah Johnson after he came on in relief at quarterback. Junior Silas Spearman aided the attack with a career-high 58 rushing yards.
 
In the air, freshman Tavares Johnson caught a team-high 63 receiving yards while senior Collins Moore tallied 56 receiving yards.
 
Sophomore O.J. O'Neal shined defensively with the first two interceptions of his career and also had three pass break-ups. Seniors Eric Foster and Michael Hurns notched a team-high eight tackles apiece.
 
For the Panthers, Jalen Morton threw for one touchdown and ran for two more. Sta'fon McCray rushed for a game-high 88 yards and a touchdown.
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY SUMMARY
After the team's punted back-and-forth to each other on their first drives, the Braves ran right down the field on their second possession. Spearman broke loose twice – 13 yards on his first carry and a big 36-yarder on his second to bring the Braves into the red zone. Junior De'Lance Turner finished off the drive with a six-yard dash through the middle to make it 7-0 with 9:44 left in the first quarter.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, PVAMU's Darius Floyd returned it 56 yards plus there was a 15-yard facemask on the Braves to start the Panthers on Alcorn's 27-yard line. A pair of penalties pushed PVAMU back, and Alcorn made a stand defensively which forced a punt.
 
Early in the second quarter, junior Trae Ferrell intercepted a pass on a third-and-six to give the Braves great field position at the PVAMU 35-yard line. Alcorn then faced a fourth-and-one at the 26, and junior Arron Baker pounded up the middle for three yards to keep the drive going. The Braves ended up settling for a 35-yard field goal attempt, but senior Haiden McCraney pushed it wide-right at the 9:24 mark.
 
After a three-and-out by the Alcorn defense, a bad punt gave the ball back to the Braves at the PVAMU 40-yard line. However, a fumble by Footman in the backfield put PVAMU's offense back on the field at its own 46-yard line.
 
The Panthers were looking to get it going offensively after converting a fourth-and-3 in Alcorn territory, but an interception by O'Neal along the sidelines thwarted the threat. On the very next play, Johnson came in and rushed 78 yards for a touchdown on his first snap to increase the lead to 14-0 with 5:11 remaining in the half.
 
A good kick return set up the Panthers at their own 48-yard line. A pair of first down rushes moved the ball to the Alcorn 24-yard line. The Panthers then faced a fourth-and-five at the Alcorn 19 when a defensive pass interference was called to move the ball up to the Alcorn 4. PVAMU scored on a dump-off pass to Sta'fon McCray to make it a 14-7 game with 32 seconds left on the half.
 
PVAMU got the ball back right before the end of the half after Alcorn mishandled the kickoff at the 11-yard line. The Braves held the Panthers to a 32-yard field goal which made it a 14-10 game at the break.
 
The Panthers got the ball first in the second half and got into the red zone after a 39-yard rush by Caleb Broach. PVAMU punched it in on a 15-yard quarterback-keeper by Morton to take a 17-14 lead.
 
After the Panthers got it back, Morton was intercepted by O'Neal at the four-yard line who lateraled it to Foster who was tackled at the PVAMU one-yard line. However, a flag was thrown and the lateral was ruled a forward pass, pushing Alcorn back to the PVAMU nine. Nevertheless, Johnson ran it in on the next play nine yards to put the Braves back ahead 21-17 halfway through the third quarter.
 
PVAMU re-gained the lead 24-21 after a 44-yard touchdown pass to Floyd with 4:05 left in the third. It came after Morton scrambled out of the pocket and Floyd slipped through the secondary uncovered in the end zone.
 
The Panthers added on to their lead 31-21 at the 10:15 mark of the fourth quarter. PVAMU converted a fake field goal on a fourth-and-three as the holder Christian Rouss took the snap, sprinted to the right and turned the corner to get to the one-yard line. Morton took it in himself on the next play on a keeper to the right.
 
The Braves answered with a nine-play, 69-yard drive, capped by a 16-yard rush through the middle by Johnson. The extra point was blocked as Alcorn trailed 31-27 with 6:46 left in the game.
 
PVAMU ran the ball three times on its next drive, but the Braves held them to a three-and-out. The offense came on to the field with 4:42 left at its own 32-yard line. However, Alcorn had to punt it back with 4:21 remaining after three incomplete passes.
 
The Braves had one last chance as the offense came back on the field with 1:53 remaining at its own 29-yard line with no timeouts. Though, the Panthers forced four consecutive incomplete passes to force a turnover on downs.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter 
9:44 – 6-yard rush by D. Turner (H. McCraney XP), 5-63-1:42, 7-0 Alcorn
2nd Quarter
5:11 – 78-yard rush by N. Johnson (H. McCraney XP), 1-78-0:14, 14-0 Alcorn
0:32 – 6-yard rush by S. McCray (A. Martinez XP), 11-52-4:33, 14-7 Alcorn
0:00 – 32-yard field goal by A. Martinez, 4-5-0:32, 14-10 Alcorn
3rd Quarter
13:03 – 15-yard rush by J. Morton (A. Martinez XP), 5-64-1:53, PVAMU 17-14
8:53 – 9-yard rush by N. Johnson (H. McCraney XP), 1-9-0:05, Alcorn 21-17
4:05 – 44-yard pass from J. Morton to D. Floyd (A. Martinez XP), 3-64-0:54, PVAMU 24-21
4th Quarter
10:15 – 1-yard rush by J. Morton (A. Martinez XP), 13-85-6:31, PVAMU 31-21
6:46 – 16-yard rush by N. Johnson (H. McCraney blocked XP), 9-69-3:23, PVAMU 31-27

NOTES
- Alcorn moved to 46-22 all-time against PVAMU.
 
- The Braves remained in a tie atop the SWAC East Division standings as Jackson State fell to Alabama State 14-7. The Braves and the Tigers will meet on the final week of the season Saturday, Nov. 19 in Lorman.
 
- Alcorn has now rushed for at least 155 rushing yards in seven of their eight games this season, including at No. 20 Arkansas. The Braves entered the game averaging 191.1 rushing yards per outing and upped it Saturday with 256 yards.
 
- It marked the second time this season that Johnson rushed for three touchdowns as he also did it against UAPB. He's the second player on Alcorn to rush for three touchdowns in two different games as Footman did it against Alabama A&M and Southern. Footman and Johnson are the only two players in the SWAC to rush for three touchdowns in multiple games.
 
- Footman is the only player in the SWAC to rush for three touchdowns in two different games this season. In addition to Southern, he also did it at Alabama A&M.
 
- Hurns entered the game ranked ninth in the SWAC in tackles with 7.0 per outing and upped it with eight tackles in the contest.
 
- Spearman broke his previous career-high of 37 rushing yards set last week against Southern. His 36-yard run in the first quarter was also a career-long, upping his previous best of 28 yards.
 
- Alcorn's captains were seniors Detonio Dade, Evan Grimes and D'Andre Smith. PVAMU won the toss and deferred to the second half.

UP NEXT
The Braves will play their first of two SWAC East Division games to wrap-up the regular season next Saturday when it travels to Mississippi Valley State for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Alcorn will close out the regular season against Jackson State on Senior Day at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 19.
 
Alcorn is looking for its fourth consecutive win over MVSU. The Braves won 55-14 last year, 52-9 in 2014 and 35-28 in 2013. The Delta Devils defeated UAPB 41-7 on Saturday.

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