LORMAN, Miss. – A back-and-forth seesaw battle that displayed over 900 yards of total offense saw the Alcorn State University football program score the go-ahead touchdown with 40 seconds left to outscore Prairie View A&M 45-41 on Saturday at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium.
In a game that featured six lead changes, the Braves (2-2, 1-0 SWAC) trailed 41-38 when they started at their own 35 with 5:20 left. Alcorn marched down the field, converted a 4th-and-4 at the PVAMU 36, and went on to tally the game-winner on a three-yard pass to sophomore Tim McNair.
Junior
Felix Harper threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns. His top target was senior
LeCharles Pringle who submitted a career day with 144 yards and a touchdown.
Despite all the scoring, a heroic performance also came on the defensive end as senior
Solomon Muhammad wrapped-up a career-high 18 tackles. Junior
Juwan Taylor was also in double-figures with 11 tackles. Junior
Qwynnterrio Cole tallied two interceptions.
PVAMU was led by Jalen Morton who threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns. DaWonya Tucker rushed for 128 yards and a pair of scores.
The team's exchanged blows early in the game with Alcorn racing out to a 17-0 lead. PVAMU responded by scoring 19 unanswered points, but the Braves took advantage of a muffed punt to lead 24-19 at the half.
In the second half, PVAMU (1-3, 1-1 SWAC) jumped out to a 34-24 advantage when Alcorn answered with a pair of touchdowns by freshman
Niko Duffey to go up 38-34. The Panthers punched back with a 75-yard drive to lead 41-38 at the 12:27 mark, but the Braves had the last laugh with a 14-play, 65-yard drive on their final possession to win it.
The Braves will remain at home next Saturday at 6 p.m. when they host Mississippi Valley State. Alcorn will be going for its seventh consecutive victory over MVSU.
PLAY-BY-PLAY SUMMARY
The Braves scored on the first possession of the game. A 20-yard completion to Pringle got it going, and an 11-yard pass to senior
Chris Blair moved it into PVAMU territory. Alcorn scored on a 30-yard reception to lead 7-0 early.
Morton's first pass of the game was intercepted by Cole. It setup Alcorn at the PVAMU 31, and a pair of receptions of 13 and 10 yards, respectively to Duffey put the ball at the three. The Braves capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown by sophomore
Trey Turner to go up 14-0 with not even four minutes taken off the clock.
Alcorn again got the ball off a turnover as Morton was picked off by sophomore Keyron Kinsler. It led to a 33-yard field goal by senior
Corey McCullough which upped the lead to 17-0 at the 1:27 mark.
The game flipped for the first time when PVAMU scored on a 2nd-and-44 play as Morton went for the home run pass and connected with Tony Mullins for a 66-yarder. The Panthers were backed up due to penalties, but the big score cut the deficit to 17-7 at the 13:00 mark of the second quarter.
After a three-and-out by the Braves, the Panthers got the ball back and put together a seven-play, 68-yard drive that was capped by a 21-yard pass from Morton to Kelejawan Chriss. The point after was botched on the snap, but PVAMU trailed 17-13.
The Panthers kept the momentum going and blocked a punt to set them up at the Alcorn 1. On the very next play, Tucker ran it in to give the Panthers their first lead, 19-17, with 6:56 to go. The point after attempt hit the left post, no good.
The end of the first half was looking bleak for the Braves after they were forced to punt again, but a big play came on special teams as the PVAMU returner coughed up the run-back and the Braves pounced on it at the PVAMU 5. On the very next play, Harper kept it himself on a five-yard dash to put Alcorn back in front 24-19 at the half.
The second half was seemingly off to a good start for the Braves after Cole picked off Morton for the second time. However, on Alcorn's first play it turned it right back over on a poor handoff exchange and the Panthers recovered the fumble at the Alcorn 25. PVAMU cashed in with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Jones, and converted the two-point conversion to jump ahead 27-24 in the third.
The Panthers added on late in the third with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jones to make it a 34-24 game.
Alcorn's comeback started midway through the third when it drove it 75 yards down the field. The big play was a 26-yard pass to Pringle. The Braves got into the end zone on a seven-yard rush by Duffey to trim the deficit to 34-31.
Alcorn took the lead early in the fourth on a six-yard run by Duffey. It came after a 30-yard completion to Blair, as the Braves went back ahead 38-34 with 14:40 remaining.
PVAMU's final lead came early in the fourth when it responded with a 75-yard drive of its own. The scoring play was a 12-yard rush by Tucker, as the Panthers led 41-38 with just over 12 minutes left.
After a pair of punts, the Braves took over at its own 35 with 5:20 left. Alcorn faced a 3rd-and-14 at its own 42 when Felix found Pringle for 16 yards to keep the drive going. Then, the Braves were situated with a 4th-and-4 when they went for it, and Harper found Blair on the left side for 13-yards to keep it moving. An 11-yard rush by Duffey moved the ball into the red zone, and a nine-yard rush by Duffey placed it at the PVAMU 3. On 3rd-and-1, Harper rolled out to his right and hooked up with Tim McNair for the game-winner.
The Panthers had one last chance, as an unsportsmanlike penalty on Alcorn on the kickoff started PVAMU's drive at the 40-yard line with 40 seconds. The Panthers advanced to the Alcorn 43, but three consecutive incomplete passes ended the game. The final play, with one second left, was a short pass over the middle that still had a long way to go after the catch, but it was dropped.
NOTES
- Alcorn posted its third straight win over Prairie View A&M. The Braves are now 43-15 all-time against the Panthers.
- The Braves won their eighth straight conference opener.
- Alcorn improved to 81-53 all-time in Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium, which is in its 28th season. The Braves also increased their home winning-streak to five games, which carried over from last year.
- The Braves were a perfect six-for-six in red zone scoring in the game to remain perfect on the season.
- Alcorn has now scored 90 points in two home games this year.
- The Braves improved 15-0 when leading at halftime since 2017.
- Alcorn is now 12-6 in night games under head coach
Fred McNair, who is now 17-7 in his career against the SWAC.
- The Braves have outscored the opposition 42-24 in the fourth quarter this season.
- Pringle more-than doubled his previous career-high in receiving of 63 yards against Louisiana College in 2018. His eight receptions topped his previous best of five set last week at McNeese State.
- Harper's 280 passing yards and 25 completions were both career-highs. His previous bests were 132 yards and 13 completions set last week at McNeese.
- Muhammad's previous career-high in tackles was 13 against Southern on Sept. 23, 2017. He also finished with 2.5 tackles for a loss in the game.
- Taylor more-than doubled his previous career-high of five tackles set twice this season. Taylor also forced a fumble in the game.
- The 33-yard field goal by McCullough in the first quarter upped his career total to 37, which are the most made in Alcorn history.
- Alcorn entered the game ranked No. 3 in the national HBCU Top-10, while PVAMU was No. 6. The Braves were also receiving votes in the STATS FCS Top-25 Poll.
- The game was streamed in front of a national audience on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
- Alcorn's captains were Blair, McCullough and senior
Darrell Henderson. The Braves won the coin toss and elected to receive.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"We came out fast as we wanted to do. The defense played well the first quarter, but then gave up two touchdowns in the second which shifted things a bit. Overall, I think this team is relentless, they played very hard, and gave everything that we needed. We just got to get to the drawing board and see what we got to do to get better."
About the multiple lead changes and momentum swings
"A game of this magnitude you're going to have lead changes. Prairie View has a good team, and Coach Dooley does a great job with those guys. Their offense was explosive and their defense played hard. In a back-and-forth scoring game like that, you just hope to have the last chance with the ball and win it."
On LeCharles Pringle's career outing
"LeCharles grew up today as a football player, he played a phenomenal game, made all the catches that he needed to make and the kid's only going to get better. We got him playing various positions, inside and outside receiver, and he made those adjustments. I think this offense really grew up today as a whole and the defense played hard. We created turnovers and we were able to capitalize on those."
On Felix Harper
"Noah [Johnson] went down last week and when you're starter goes down, you always want your number two guy to be ready. We always tell them 'next man up.' I thought Felix came in in his first start, did an outstanding job filling in for Noah this game and made all the right throws, right reads and did everything correctly as we expected as a backup quarterback."
On keeping the momentum going against MVSU
"The kids understand the magnitude of this conference. Every team has gotten better over the course of camp and the recruiting process and we obviously have a target on our backs. When teams play us, it's like the Super Bowl for them so we have to be prepared every week to come out and play our best ballgame."
Quoting Felix Harper
On the game-winning touchdown drive
"We all came together as one unit. I was very happy that we all came together as a team and we came out victorious right there."
On his first career start
"I think I did great. I thank the defense for giving me opportunities to score, I thank my offensive line for getting me in position to pass the ball to my receivers, thanking them for catching it, the running backs also and it made me look great."
On preparing for PVAMU
"We were in the film room day-in and day-out. I got the group of players together and we all just sat down, stayed locked in and watched the film every day. We were prepared for this moment and we came out victorious."
On next week's match-up against MVSU
"We'll keep watching film on our next opponent and it starts on day one of practice. The way you practice is the way you're going to play and that's going to carry on to Saturdays so we can be victorious."
Quoting Solomon Muhammad
On the defense making just enough plays to win
"We just believed in our coaches' strategy and the game plan as we just followed through with it. We didn't bend, we just stuck to the game plan and everybody did their job - the outcome was great."
On his career-high in tackles
"It's all about preparation. Our coaches do a great job on knowing the opponent and what kind of plays they run, certain personnel and formations they run. It's just the game plan that Coach [Cedric] Thornton dialed up. We have a lot of defensive players, a couple young guys in there but if everybody just does their job and we are going to be good."
On PVAMU's offense
"They are a high-powered offense so give credit to them. They're a great ballclub we just had to find a way to get the win."
On looking ahead to MVSU
"It's a great start getting a first win in the SWAC, and we just have to comeback Monday with a great game plan as usual. We have to work hard through the week and continue to keep finding ways to win."
#FearTheBrave
