SWAC Week 2 Review:
Charles Wells, SWAC Contributor | September 15, 2015
Thursday, September 10
Southern 50, Mississippi Valley State 13
Southern wasted no time putting the Louisiana Tech loss behind them by blowing past Mississippi Valley State 50-13 in the conference opener for both teams Thursday night in Rice-Totten Stadium. MVSU’s struggles from the previous week continued as they found themselves trailing 33-0 after a quarter and a half of action. The Delta Devils went backwards more than they did forward, even changing QBs to no success.
Lenard Tillery ran for touchdowns of 10 and 14 yards on the Jaguars’ first two possessions on his way to gaining 91 yards on 15 carries. Willie Quinn followed his 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Louisiana Tech with a 39-yard punt return for a touchdown. Austin Howard threw his first touchdown pass of the season, lofting a perfect 28-yard toss to Nico Talbert, then Quinn topped him with an 89-yarder to Randall Menard.
SU’s defense came up with three interceptions as two newcomers — junior safety Nicholas McDonald and freshman cornerback Demerio Houston — had one each and wide receiver Justin Morgan, who just started practicing at cornerback this week, had one. MVSU’s offense showed some life after Dontrinell Scott replaced Quantavius Peterson at quarterback in the second quarter to cut the lead to 33-7 at halftime and he teamed with Barron for a 34-yard touchdown on the first possession of the third quarter. But the Devils sent the ensuing kickoff in Quinn’s direction and he ran 90 yards for a doubt-removing touchdown.
Friday, September 11
Texas Southern 63, Bacone 0
Coming off of a bad loss to open the season, Texas Southern got exactly what they needed, an easy go of it against Bacone College. Texas Southern gained 447 yards of total offense, forced three turnovers and produced its highest point total in four years with a 63-0 victory of Bacone Friday night at BBVA Compass Stadium.
TSU quarterback Johnathan Bowen completed 8 of his 11 passing attempts for 163 yards and three touchdowns. The first year starter also carried the ball 12 times for 103 yards. Derrick Griffin, who scored the team’s second touchdown of the evening led the receiving corps with a pair of catches along with 99 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers broken the game open in the second quarter when Bowen connected with Tracy Johnson on a 24 yards pass making the score 21-0. On its next possession, Bowen scored again on an eight yard scamper and would later find Marc Edwards on a nine yard touchdown toss increasing the lead to 35-0 just before halftime.
Saturday, September 12
Alcorn State 31, Alabama State 14
The game I thought would be the game that would possibly vault Alabama State into contention was not so. Alcorn State earned its first win of the season defeating Alabama State for the second straight year 31-14. For the second consecutive week, the Hornets (0-2, 0-1 SWAC) had a lead that they were unable to sustain. The Hornets took the lead twice on touchdown drives in the opening half, but the Braves had an answer each time.
Alcorn took a 17-14 lead into halftime on a 29-yard field goal by Haiden McCraney and Braves senior quarterback John Gibbs Jr. completed 26-of-33 passes for 306 yards, threw for a touchdown and ran for another.
ASU outscored the Braves 14-7 in the first quarter. ASU marched right down the field on their first possession, capping a six-play drive for 70 yards in 2:12 on a 37-yard touchdown scramble by redshirt sophomore Ellis Richardson, who was making his first career start. Richardson completed 9-of-18 passes for 59 yards and he also added 46 yards on the ground with a score. On the Hornets’ next series, the offense was at it again, as ASU went on a 12-play drive for 76 yards.
Junior Khalid Thomas had a nice touchdown run of seven yards to put the Hornets back on top 14-7 late in the first quarter. Alcorn State came directly back with a 14-play drive for 90 yards in 6:12 on a Gibbs Jr. three-run touchdown run to lock up the score are 14-14.
The biggest play of the night came when Gibbs Jr. connected with Tollette George, who streaked down the near sidelines for a 62-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 17 after the PAT. The Hornets threatened again when Thomas returned the kickoff to the ASU 48-yard line, but they were unable to convert the field position into points.
Texas State 63, Prairie View 24
Texas State rode a 35-point first quarter to a 63-24 win over Prairie View A&M. It only took the Bobcats five plays to score on its opening drive as a 49-yard strike to Jafus Gaines on the third play set up a 1-yard run by Robert Lowe two plays later. Down 7-0, the Panthers were moving on its opening drive but a fumble at the Texas State 35 killed the drive and set up Texas State’s second score of the night five plays later after Chris Nutall’s touchdown run. Later, Texas State needed only one play to move ahead 20-0 as Tyler Smith connected with Brandon Smith for a 65-yard strike.
The Panthers cashed in on their scoring opportunity on its third drive of the game as they drove down to the Texas State 13 but had to settle for a 30-yard field goal from Owen Hoolihan. However, the momentum was short-lived as Nutall capped off a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a 7-yard rush up the middle for a 27-3 lead after the PAT.
PVAMU failed to capitalize off a 51-yard kickoff return by Johnta’ Hebert and committed a huge special teams mistake on the punt as they allowed Brandon McDowell to return a 95-yard punt for a touchdown en route to a 35-7 first quarter lead after the PAT.
After falling behind 35-7 the Panthers regrouped on their next drive and had an 11-play, 75-yard drive which was capped off by De’Auntre Smiley’s 4-yard touchdown run. Texas State added two more touchdowns over the next few minutes and jumped ahead 56-10 until a 10-yard strike from Trey Green to Keylon LaSalle with 18 seconds left in the first half. PVAMU finished with 402 (323 Passing, 79 Rushing) yards, Green threw for 289 yards on 25-of-37 passing with two touchdowns. Hebert caught a team-high six passes for 63 yards while LaStrappe led all receivers with 87 yards on five receptions.
Arkansas Pine Bluff 29, Morehouse 27
Arkansas – Pine Bluff Football claimed its first victory of the season in dramatic fashion with a 29-27 overtime win over Morehouse College. Both teams were unable to get anything going in the first three quarters, then the Golden Lions scored on a 15-yard Touchdown run by KeShawn Williams early in the 4th Quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Morehouse drove the ball 74 yards on 12 plays as the Tigers scored on a Monqavious Johnson three-yard pass to Amyr Smith with 1:34 left in the game and tying the contest 7-7 forcing overtime. Things would pick up in overtime.
In the first overtime, MHC scored first a Johnson 25-yard pass to Justin Browning, giving the Tigers a 14-7 lead. UAPB would respond with Willie Young scoring on a nine yard pass from Marcus Terrell, making the game at 14-14. The Golden Lions opened the second overtime with a five-yard TD run to take a 21-14 lead. MHC would convert a fourth and 15 to tie the contest at 21-21 as Johnson found Smith in the back of the end zone for a 30-yard TD strike. UAPB retook the lead in the third overtime on two-yard score by Nicholas Woodfork, followed by a Terrell two-point conversion, giving the Golden Lions a 29-21 lead. Smith scored his third touchdown of the game on a 13- yard pass from Johnson to cut UAPB’s lead to 29-27, but the Tigers two-point conversion would come up short allowing the Golden Lions to survive the upset bid.
Bethune Cookman 56, Grambling State 53
I thought the running game would decide this one but it was the passing game of BCU that sealed the deal. Larry Brihm, Jr. and Quentin Williams combined to throw for 463 yards and six touchdowns as Bethune-Cookman scored late and held on for a 56-53 victory over Grambling State on Saturday night. After a tight 1st half the game exploded in the second.
Trailing 46-41 with 3:37 remaining in the game, Williams hit Jawill Davis, who finished with 199 yards, on a 29-yard scoring strike to retake the lead 49-46. Bethune-Cookman added another score with 1:48 left when Anthony Jordan ran in from 41 yards out. Grambling quickly marched down the field and Johna Williams hit Chester Rogers with a 12-yard scoring strike to close to 56-53 with 54 seconds left. Johnathon Williams threw for 326 yards on 30-of-47 passing.
Tennessee State 35, Jackson State 25
Jackson State continues to be vexed by Tennessee State dropping the Southern Heritage Classic to Tennessee State in Memphis 35-25. This was JSU’s 4th straight loss to TSU. O’Shay Ackerman-Carter was 15 of 26 for 250 yards. Telvin Hooks ran for 68 yards on 14 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns for the Tigers (2-0).
Ackerman-Carter threw a TD to Patrick Smith early in the first quarter followed by a 7-yard TD run by Hooks and the Tigers up 14-6.
After a Jackson State field goal late in the first quarter and another scoring pass from Ackerman-Carter in the final seconds of the first half, Tennessee State went into the half leading 21-9. LaMontiez Ivy was 24 of 39 for 322 yards for Jackson State (0-2). Early in the third quarter, Hooks scored his second TD from 2 yards and Ackerman-Carter found Chris Sanders-McCollum for a 64-yard touchdown play and a 35-18 Tennessee State lead. JSU got a 4th Quarter TD for the final margin. Neither team ran the ball very well, combining for about 225 yards.
Football Players of the Week: September 14
Alcorn State quarterback John Gibbs , Southern linebacker Kentarious Preston and wide receiver Willie Quinn, and Prairie View A&M linebacker Jalan Coleman have been recognized by the Southwestern Athletic Conference as football players of the week for their outstanding performance in competition during Sept. 10-12.
Offensive Player of the Week – Gibbs
Alcorn State’s senior signal-caller accounted for more than 350 total yards of offense in a 31-14 win over conference foe Alabama State. Gibbs went 23-of-33 for 306 yards and a score and chipped in 46 yards and another touchdowns on the ground.
Defensive Player of the Week – Preston
Preston led the Jaguar defense in Southern’s 50-13 win over Mississippi Valley State, notching 11 stops (2.5 tackles for loss) and getting a sack along the way. With the effort, Preston is more than halfway to his 2014 tackles total (20).
Special Teams Player of the Week – Quinn
Quinn earned his second-straight SWAC Special Teams Player of the Week award after making a dazzling 39-yard punt return touchdown and later adding a 90-yard kickoff return for a score during the Jaguars’ 50-13 win over Mississippi Valley State. Quinn amassed 187 total yards from scrimmage (152 return) and also threw for a 89-yard touchdown during the game.
Newcomer of the Week – Coleman
The sophomore linebacker was a bright spot for the Panthers during their 63-24 loss to Texas State. Coleman was in on 10 stops (one for loss) during the game, and the sophomore’s tackle totals were tops among all Panthers’ defenders during the contest.
