GRAMBLING, La. – The Alcorn State University football program saw its seven-game road conference winning streak come to an end Saturday evening as the Braves dropped a 43-18 decision to Grambling State at Eddie Robinson Stadium.
The Braves (1-2, 1-2 SWAC) trailed just 16-11 halfway through the third quarter when the Tigers (3-1, 2-0 SWAC) scored three consecutive touchdowns to pull away. The loss also ended Alcorn's five-game road winning streak overall.
Junior
Arron Baker rushed for a career-high 131 yards to lead the Alcorn ground game. As a team, the Braves rushed for 168 yards.
At quarterback, redshirt-freshman
Noah Johnson got the start and threw for 65 yards and a touchdown. Junior
Lenorris Footman entered the game halfway through the second quarter and registered 137 passing yards. Junior
Jaborian McKenzie was the team's leading receiver with 55 yards.
Defensively, senior Darrien Anderson stood out with a team-high 12 tackles and a career-high four sacks.
The Tigers were led by quarterback Devante Kincade who threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for 58 yards and a touchdown. Chad Williams garnered 188 yards receiving and a touchdown.
PLAY-BY-PLAY SUMMARY
The Tigers got on the board first with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Martez Carter on their opening drive. Kincade scrambled around the pocket, flipped it to Carter who juked his way down the left side for the score. Grambling recorded a big 47-yard passing play on the first play of their second drive, but it was fumbled after the catch and recovered by senior
D'Andre Smith at the Alcorn nine-yard line.
After the Braves were forced to punt, senior
Haiden McCraney boomed a 70-yard punt to pin the Tigers at their own nine-yard line. It was the second-longest of McCraney's career. On the ensuing series, a high snap went over Kincade's head and was recovered by Grambling in the end zone for a safety to make it a 7-2 game with 2:41 left in the first quarter.
A great return by junior
Marquis Warford on the following punt gave Alcorn excellent field position to start its drive at the Grambling 42-yard line. The Braves got it down to the 10-yard line and were facing a third down when Johnson got out of the pocket to the right, threw back across his body and found senior
LaDarrien Davis who made a leaping grab in the back of the endzone to put them ahead 8-7 at the end of the first quarter. The extra point was wide-left.
The Braves got the ball back inside their own 10-yard line, but back-to-back negative rushing plays resulted in a safety as Grambling re-took a 9-8 edge early in the second quarter. The Tigers added-on late in the half with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Jones to extend the lead to 16-8.
In the third quarter, Alcorn started its second series on the Grambling 45-yard line after a pair of defensive stops. Junior
De'Lance Turner broke loose for a 25-yard rush to set up first down on the 20. The Braves got pushed back after a penalty, but McCraney connected on a 46-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 16-11 with 8:45 remaining.
The Tigers answered with an eight-play drive, capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass to Verlan Hunter to increase their advantage back up to 23-11 with 5:44 left in the third. They added on a seven-yard touchdown rush by Kincade up the middle to make it a 29-11 game after a missed extra point.
In the fourth quarter, Grambling scored on a 67-yard pass to Williams, who sprinted about 45 yards down the field after the catch on the right side. On the ensuing kickoff, Warford ran one back 87 yards for the touchdown as the Braves trailed 36-18 halfway through the fourth quarter.
The Tigers scored their final touchdown on a 47-yard pass to Williams who broke a tackle along the sideline and could not be caught.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
7:07 – 17-yard pass from D. Kincade to M. Carter (J. Wallace XP), 8-55-3:12, 7-0 Grambling
2:41 - -3-yard bad snap (safety), 7-2 Grambling
0:04 – 10-yard pass from N. Johnson to L. Davis (C. McCullough missed XP), 6-67-2:31, 8-7 Alcorn
2nd Quarter
13:21 - -3-yard run (safety), 9-8 Grambling
3:38 – 7-yard pass from D. Kincade to J. Jones (J. Wallace XP), 8-35-3:58, 16-8 Grambling
3rd Quarter
8:45 – 46-yard field goal by H. McCraney, 5-16-2:07, 16-11 Grambling
5:44 - 20-yard pass from D. Kincade to V. Hunter (J. Wallace XP), 8-59-2:59, 23-11 Grambling
3:36 – 7-yard rush by D. Kincade (J. Wallace missed XP), 4-55-1:27, 29-11 Grambling
4th Quarter
8:28 - 67-yard pass from D. Kincade to C. Williams (J. Wallace XP), 1-56-0:14, 36-11 Grambling
8:08 – 87-yard kick return by M. Warford (H. McCraney XP), 36-18 Grambling
6:07 – 47-yard pass from D. Kincade to C. Williams (J. Wallace XP), 5-84-1:56, 43-18 Grambling
NOTES
- The last time the Braves lost a SWAC road contest was Oct. 11, 2014 at Grambling, 28-21. They went 5-0 in conference road games in 2015.
- Alcorn entered the game leading the conference in rushing offense and were close to par with 168 yards on the ground.
- Baker's 131 rushing yards shattered his previous best of 75 set last season against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 7, 2015.
- Warford's kick return touchdown was his first since Nov. 28, 2015 when he ran one back at Jackson State.
- Turner's 25-yard rush in the third quarter was a career-long. His previous long was 15 yards set twice.
- Junior
Norlando Veals pulled down a 31-yard pass in the first half which marked a career-high. It upped his previous best of 25 yards set last week against UAPB.
- Anderson's four sacks marked a career-high, doubling his previous best of two set twice. His 12 tackles matched a career-high set at UAPB on Oct. 3, 2015.
- The Braves led the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 30:32 compared to Grambling's 29:28.
- Alcorn's captains were seniors
Ladonn Bolden, McCraney and Smith. Grambling won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"We have to find out ways to not shoot ourselves in the foot. In the first half we had opportunities, we just didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had. They had some schemes going that stopped us a little bit, but it's all about us and what we do. It's not about anybody else on the field. That's all it is, if we play bad we play bad. It's not what they did it's all about what we did. Of course Footman is bothered by his injury. You could see him hopping around up there. We have got to get our guys ready to play and back healthy."
UP NEXT
The Braves will play their second of a three-game road trip next Saturday, Oct. 1 at Arkansas. It will be Alcorn's lone non-conference game after its scheduled opener against Bethune-Cookman was ruled no contest due to severe weather. It will mark the first-ever meeting between the Braves and the Razorbacks.
Alcorn's next home game is homecoming Saturday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. when it hosts Texas Southern.
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