SWAC Week 6 Review:
Charles Wells, SWAC Contributor | October 13, 2015
Saturday, October 10
Prairie View A&M 45, Mississippi Valley State 6
PVU took care of business against a struggling Mississippi Valley on Homecoming. Valley’s season, which was predicted to be a struggle continues to be worse than expected. The Delta Devils have given up 40+ points in each game. Trey Green threw for 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns all while being on the receiving end of another scoring pass as Prairie View A&M defeated Mississippi Valley State 45-6. Green accounted for 288 of the Panther’s 488 total yards as he also rushed for 42 yards and grabbed one pass for 20 yards. Johnta Hebert finished with 17 carries for 107 yards for PVAMU. De’Auntre Smiley scored from the one with 5:08 left in the first quarter to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead. Green tossed a strike to Hebert, who caught three passes for 45 yards, from the 29 for a score and Nick Pitre hit Green on a 20 yard scoring toss for a 21-0 lead with 1:51 left before halftime. Jerrell Moore rushed for 93 yards on just four carries to lead Mississippi Valley State (0-6, 0-4). Teammate Mark Pegues made a game high nine tackles. PVAMU’s defense finished with a season high eight sacks
Grambling State 37, Alabama A&M 14
Grambling State University won their fourth consecutive game of the season after beating Alabama A&M 37-14. The Tigers have looked sharp on offense most of the season, while the Bulldogs have taken a step back. The GSU defense produced its best performance of the season since it held Alabama State to 10 points back in week three while offensively the Tigers racked up 513 yards of total offense. GSU gained 284 yards on the ground with Martez Carter leading the way with 124. Johnathan Williams rushed for 95 and Justin Kelly finished with 59 yards. Williams completed 22 of his 41 passing attempts for 255 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Chad Williams hauled in six catches for 124 yards and one score for the Tigers.
AAMU quarterback De’Angelo Ballard was held to 39 yards on 2-of-13 passing. Damion May entered in a reserved role and passed for 163 yards. DeVon Johnson was on the receiving end of 70 of those yards for the visiting Bulldogs. Williams got the Tigers on the board first with a 37 yard run six minutes into the game. With 4:42 left in the first quarter, Williams found Verlan Hunter for a nine yard touchdown pass. Bryan Brower’s two yard run toward the end of the first made the score 14-7. With 11:47 left in the 2nd quarter, Williams tossed a 23 yard touchdown pass and Chester Rogers returned a 63 yard punt for a touchdown to lead its lead 27-7 at the break. Bryan Brower (AAMU) and Arkez Cooper (GSU) led with seven tackles apiece.
Southern 45, Alabama State 34
Southern jumped on ASU early and withstood an ASU surge in the second half to win their 3rd game in a row in Montgomery. Austin Howard threw for 355 yards and four touchdowns and added two more on the ground to lead Southern past Alabama State 45-34 Saturday night. Howard completed a seven yarder to Dillon Beard and later ran for a two yard score to give the Jaguars a 14-0 lead. Southern (3-2 overall, 3-0) got a 33-yard field goal from Greg Pittman before halftime to make it 17-0. Howard then carried it in from 8 yards to make the score 24-0. The Hornets (2-4, 2-3) got on the board when Ellis Richardson completed a 14-yard pass to Jamir Hanna, and the two-point conversion made it 24-8. Howard responded with a six play, 40-yard drive that ended when he found Montrell Jones for a 6-yard score to make it 31-8. ASU cut the lead to 38-28 when Daniel Duhart completed a one yard score to Brandon Barnes with 3:38 to play. Duhart threw three touchdowns off the bench.
Offensive Player of the Week
Austin Howard, Southern, Quarterback
Howard was a difference maker for the Jaguars, as his five-touchdown night powered Southern to a 45-34 road win at Alabama State. Southern’s sophomore signal-caller threw for 355 yards and three scores – on 33-of-45 passing – and also rushed for two touchdowns on the ground in the win. This marks the second time this season that Howard has been honored as SWAC Offensive Player of the Week.
Defensive Player of the Week
Foster Brown, Prairie View A&M, Cornerback.
Foster was a factor in all phases of Prairie View A&M’s defensive effort versus Mississippi Valley State, as he picked up eight total tackles in the Panthers’ 45-6 win. In addition, he made one tackle for loss, notched a quarterback sack, made one pass breakup, and also blocked a point-after attempt.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Nick Carden, Alabama A&M, Punter
Carden earned his second SWAC Special Teams Player of the Week award this year after averaging a shade under 44 yards per punt during the Bulldogs’ loss versus Grambling State. Carden’s longest punt of the day traveled 51 yards, and he twice pinned GSU’s offense inside the 20 with his punting.
Newcomer of the Week
Steven Guillory, Prairie View A&M,Linebacker
Guillory was a driving force behind the Panthers’ pass rush versus Mississippi Valley State. The freshman accounted for two of Prairie View A&M’s eight sacks on the day. He also was credited with seven total stops, with 1.5 tackles for loss in the 45-6 victory.
