Alcorn Rolls to Home Opening Victory over Mississippi College

LORMAN, Miss. – The 28th season at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium kicked off with a 45-7 victory for the Alcorn State University football program over Mississippi College on Saturday.
 
Freshman Niko Duffey turned in a breakout performance for the Braves (1-1), which included three touchdowns. He rushed for 138 yards and a pair of scores, and caught 38 yards and a touchdown.
 
Alcorn pulled away early in the game and raced out to a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter. The lone touchdown for MC (0-1) came in the closing minutes.
 
The Braves outgained the Choctaws 465-242 in total yards, including a rushing advantage of 324-117. Alcorn was 10-of-16 on third downs, and held MC to a 3-of-12 mark.
 
Senior quarterback Noah Johnson finished 15-of-23 in the air for 132 yards and a touchdown. He spread it around and connected with nine different receivers. Johnson also rushed for a touchdown.
 
Five of Alcorn's six touchdowns came on the ground. Other scores included a 22-yard run by senior De'Shawn Waller, and a 2-yard spurt by sophomore Jonathon Bolton.
 
Alcorn's front line defensively dealt with MC's triple-option rushing attack as senior defensive lineman Darrell Henderson wrapped-up a game-high seven tackles. The Braves forced two turnovers in the game as junior Chris Monroe and sophomore Keyron Kinsler recovered fumbles.
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY SUMMARY
After both teams punted on their opening series, the Braves started to march down the field on their second drive. It started with a 12-yard rush by Waller, and he followed it up with an 18-yard reception to move the ball to the MC 29. From there, the drive was quickly capped by a 29-yard sprint by Duffey to give Alcorn a 7-0 edge at the 8:44 mark.
 
On the ensuing MC drive, a botched pitch attempt resulted in a fumble and Monroe jumped on it at the MC 28. Johnson found junior LeCharles Pringle for a 13-yard reception, and senior Nigel Wood for an 11-yard catch to move near the goal line. Alcorn went up 14-0 on a two-yard run by Bolton with 6:32 left in the first.
 
Near the end of the first quarter, the Braves were setup at their own 45 after a 14-yard punt return by senior Javen Morrison. Alcorn moved into Choctaw territory on a 15-yard grab by freshman Kendric Brown, and then a big 45-yard run by Duffey increased the lead to 21-0 with 2:18 to go in the opening quarter.
 
Midway through the second, the Braves put together a 10-play drive that featured a 10-yard catch by freshman Akeem McNair. A 22-yard touchdown rush by Waller made it a 28-0 game.
 
MC had a chance to put points on the board near the end of the half. The marched down the field to the Alcorn 26 after a series of runs, but were stopped short on a 4th-and-6 play as they opted to go for it and junior Nichel Herron made the stop after a gain of one.
 
The Braves tacked on a 39-yard field goal by senior Corey McCullough on their first drive of the second half to lead 31-0. It came after Alcorn started with great field position as Kinsler scooped up a fumble at the MC 25.
 
Alcorn added another tally early in the fourth. It came on a long 15-play, 84-yard drive that featured runs by Duffey, senior Kevon Marsh and sophomore quarterback Jyron Russell. The big play of the series was a 20-yard rush by Duffey to move into the red zone. Johnson kept it himself from three yards out as Alcorn led 38-0.
 
Alcorn's final score came midway through the fourth. Marsh recorded five carries and a reception to move the Braves into MC territory, and Duffey finished it off with a 26-yard run through the right side to make it a 45-0 game with 7:19 left.
 
The Choctaws scored on their final possession of the game. They faced a 3rd-and-17 from the Alcorn 38 when they were stopped one-yard short of the first down, but a personal foul on the Braves extended the drive and set them up at the Alcorn 11. The touchdown came on a 10-yard pass from DeAnte' Smith-Moore to Rondell Cole in the middle of the end zone.
 
Up next, Alcorn will be back on the road next Saturday when it travels to McNeese State for 6 p.m. game.
 
NOTES
- The Braves won their seventh consecutive home opener, and are now 17-11 all-time in openers at Spinks-Casem Stadium. Alcorn is now 80-53 all-time in the stadium.
 
- Alcorn extended its home winning-streak to four games, which carried over from last year.
 
- The Braves won their 13th consecutive game against a non-Division I opponent. It was the first-ever meeting between Alcorn and MC.
 
- Duffey's breakout performance came after he rushed for 25 yards last week in his collegiate debut. His longest run tonight was the 45-yard touchdown spurt in the first quarter.
 
- In the career record book, Johnson moved up to No. 4 all-time in Alcorn history in career completions with 369. He surpassed Richard Myles' mark of 366 from 1982-85. Johnson also moved up a spot to No. 6 in career passing yards with 4,298, which surpassed former teammate Lenorris Footman who threw for 4,234 yards from 2014-17.
 
- Henderson's seven tackles were one shy of his career-high eight set at Jackson State on Nov. 19, 2016.
 
- Alcorn improved to 14-0 when leading at halftime since 2017.
 
- The Braves are ranked No. 3 in the national HBCU Poll released Monday. They are also receiving 48 votes in the FCS Top-25.

- Alcorn's captains were Waller, Henderson and McCullough. The Choctaws won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
 
- Prior to the game, members of the 1969 Championship team were recognized on the field in honor of their golden 50th anniversary reunion. Alcorn was crowned as both Black National Champions and SWAC Champions that year with an undefeated 8-0-1 record.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"Coming out for this ballgame, the purpose was to execute, play fast on defense and make sure we do all the right things on special teams. The offense came out and we sputtered a bit on the opening kickoff. We got the ball first and went three-and-out, I really hated that. The defense played excellent in the first half. Still, we didn't execute the way we wanted to offensively especially coming out in the second half with a 28-point lead. We wanted to build on that, but did some things out of character. Those are the types of things we need to work on this week. Special teams I thought did an excellent job. Corey [McCullough] had good ball placement this week, did an excellent job kicking and punting, missed a field goal there, but overall, I thought we played just a little bit better than they did to win this ballgame. We just got to get better."
 
On the Defensive Performance:
"They continue to fly around. We're still trying to build depth on defense. I think our coaching staff on that side of the ball is doing things that they need. Our defense played fast, forced some turnovers and that's to be commended by the way they practice."
 
On Niko Duffey's Performance:
"Niko Duffey is going to be a special back for us. He's constantly learning, you see it every day in practice. We see it every day as coaches so I was hoping the fans saw it too today and got an 'oh wow' out of it. He's going to continue to improve for us and he's going to be a good back for us."
 
On the Primary Focus In Practice This Upcoming Week:
"The biggest thing is staying focused and then dominating the line of scrimmage. We have to constantly get better up front on both sides of the ball. If we do that, I think this team will be a whole lot better. I see some progress being made, but we still got to get better."
 
Quoting Niko Duffey
On His Performance Tonight:
"I came out as if they were a conference team, came in humble and ready to play so that's what I did."
 
On Having His Breakout Performance
"It felt great, but now it's just moving on to next week. This game is in the past so now I'm working on the next game."
 
On How The Offensive Line Performed
"They did great. I pat them on the back every time I get back on the sideline or after a big play because I couldn't do any of the things I do without them."
 
On Playing In Front of The Home Crowd
"It felt great. It was our first game, and the crowd was loud and supportive, it was a good feeling."
 
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