McNeese Scores Late to Edge Alcorn 34-27 in Hard-Fought Battle

LORMAN, Miss. – Despite a career-high 424 passing yards by senior Lenorris Footman, McNeese State came out on top of a seesaw affair 34-27 over the Alcorn State University football program Saturday at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium.
 
The Braves (1-2, 0-0 SWAC) had an opportunity late with the ball in a tied 20-20 game, but the McNeese (2-1, 0-1 SLC) defense was able to force a three-and-out to get the ball back. On the ensuing Cowboys drive, McNeese drove down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 33-yard pass from James Tabary to Kent Shelby with 26 seconds left.
 
Footman threw for three touchdowns and also caught one on a trick play. He connected with eight different wide receivers including senior Norlando Veals who tallied 112 receiving yards, one touchdown pass and a touchdown throw.
 
Footman also threw touchdown passes to junior Marquis Warford and senior De'Lance Turner. Warford recorded 90 receiving yards, Turner 77 and junior Raidarious Anderson 80.
 
Defensively, junior Myshawn Smith and junior Solomon Muhammad, the reigning SWAC Defensive Player of the Week, posted eight tackles apiece. Sophomore Kwanzi Jackson wrapped-up a career-high seven tackles including a sack, and junior Trae Ferrell notched six tackles, two for a loss, a sack and forced a fumble.
 
The Braves forced three fumbles in the game, but the Cowboys were able to recover all of them. Alcorn forced one turnover which was an interception by sophomore Javen Morrison.
 
James led the Cowboys with 310 passing yards and four touchdowns.
 
Early in the first quarter, Alcorn faced a 3rd and 11 when Veals made a diving grab over-the-middle for a gain of 41 to move the ball to the McNeese 28-yard line. The Braves were again situated with a 3rd and 9 when Veals made his second big catch of the drive, a 22-yarder at the two-yard line. Veals capped off the drive with a two-yard touchdown pass from Footman to go up 7-0 with 6:47 left. The Brookhaven, Mississippi native hauled in 65 receiving yards on the drive which lasted 6:35.
 
The Cowboys quickly answered with a seven-play, 78-yard drive to tie the game 7-7 with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter. McNeese converted a 23-yard pass on 4th and 2 to keep the series alive. The scoring play was a two-yard pass from Tabary to Parker Orgeron.
 
Alcorn attempted to regain the lead early in the second quarter, but a 24-yard field goal try was blocked.
 
McNeese took its first lead of the contest 14-7 with 10:59 left in the half after a 24-yard touchdown completion to Cyron Sutton. It ended a six-play, 73-yard drive which included a 43-yard reception by Sutton.
 
On the third play of the ensuing series, Footman aired it out and found Warford wide-open along the right sidelines and he raced for a 69-yard touchdown. The extra-point was no good, but the Braves cut the deficit to 14-13 with 9:40 remaining in the half.
 
The score remained 14-13 in favor of McNeese at the half.
 
The Cowboys struck early in the second half with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Darious Crawley to go up 20-14. The extra point was wide-left, but McNeese went 70 yards in four plays after a trio of long passes.
 
The Cowboys had an opportunity to extend their advantage, but missed a 37-yard field goal at the 10:22 mark.
 
The Braves punched back with a 56-yard pass to Anderson which setup first-and-goal at the McNeese nine-yard line. Alcorn scored on a trick play as a direct snap went to Turner and he pitched it backwards to Veals who found Footman in the end zone for a pass of seven yards. It leveled the score 20-20 with 2:11 left in the third.
 
McNeese responded with a nine-play, 74-yard touchdown drive to re-take a 27-20 edge early in the fourth quarter. The scoring play was a two-yard rush by Benjamin Jones.
 
Alcorn fired back with a 70-yard touchdown pass from Footman to Turner. It came on the third-play of the drive to tie it again, 27-27 with 12:26 remaining in the fourth. Footman had scrambled out of the pocket on the left side and found Turner who got behind the Cowboys secondary.
 
After a strong defensive stand by the Braves which pinned McNeese deep in its own territory, the Cowboys were forced to punt. Warford ran it back for a touchdown; however, an unsportsmanlike conduct call went against the Braves which erased the touchdown and allowed the Cowboys to keep the ball.
 
Alcorn's defense garnered another stop which setup the Braves at their own 21 with 2:11 remaining.
 
The Braves will stay at home next weekend when they host Southern at 6 p.m. at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium. Alcorn is 35-27-2 all-time against the Jaguars.
 
NOTES
- Footman's 424 passing yards crushed his previous high of 269 against Grambling State in the 2016 SWAC Championship game. He threw three touchdowns for the second time in his career, and caught a pass for the first time.
 
- Footman moved up two spots to No. 9 in school history in career passing touchdowns with 26. He surpassed William Wooley's 24 from 1971-74, and tied Tim Buckley's 26 from 2006-09. Footman also moved up to No. 11 in career passing with 3,248 yards. He surpassed Jerome Vigne's mark of 2,951 from 1985-87.
 
- Footman has accounted for seven touchdowns in Alcorn's two home games this season. He opened the year with three touchdown passes against Miles College.
 
- Anderson hauled in a career-high 80 receiving yards with a career-long of 56. His previous high was 21 in the season opener against Miles College.
 
- Warford's 69-yard reception marked a career-long. His previous high was a 62-yarder against Concordia on Sept. 26, 2015.
 
- Smith's eight tackles marked a career-high. His previous best was seven in the season opener against Miles College.
 
- Jackson's seven tackles marked a career-high. His previous best was four at Mississippi Valley State last season on Nov. 11, 2016.
 
- Saturday marked the third-ever meeting between Alcorn and McNeese and the first since 2001. Alcorn held a 431-322 advantage in passing yards.
 
- The Braves are now 70-52 all-time at Spinks-Casem Stadium. The field opened in 1992 and is in its 26th season.
 
- Alcorn's captains were senior Ramonte Bell, junior Johnathon Hauer and Turner. The Cowboys won the toss and deferred to the second half.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"It's tough when you have a team that plays as well as they do and you come up short in the end. I thought the team fought hard tonight. We had a couple of key players go down with injuries. Though, the football just doesn't bounce the right way at times. We had three forced fumbles that we didn't get. You have to take the good with the bad sometimes. We have to finish the ball game."
 
On whether or not McNeese's final touchdown was in-bounds
"From my view, I couldn't really see it. I guess they made the right call. They didn't overturn it. We have to live with that."
 
On Warford's punt return for a touchdown that was called back
"We had a clip. They got that one right. We still had an opportunity to go down and score points. If we look at things we didn't do and look at things we did, it doesn't weigh out."
 
On his overall thoughts of the game
"It was a battle. They'd throw a punch and we threw one back. It's an exciting game when it's like that, but at the end you always want to play better than your opposition. We have to finish the game. Execution is what it all boils down too."
 
On Footman's performance
"Lenorris is going to play lights out, that's what he does. We fell short in our run game. Hats off to McNeese, they have a stingy run defense. We had a great passing game and without that we would have a low score."
 
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