SWAC Week 5 Review:
Charles Wells, SWAC Contributor | October 06, 2015
Thursday, October 1
Alabama State 41, Texas Southern 23
The Hornets got another much needed win over the reeling TSU Tigers. Ellis Richardson threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead Alabama State to a 41-23 victory. TSU took a 23-20 lead late in the third quarter when Averion Hurts found Derrick Griffin in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown. Alex Anderson returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to give ASU a 27-23 lead. In the fourth quarter, Richardson had a short touchdown pass to a wide open Brandon Barnes and, less than three minutes later, Khalid Thomas broke a short screen pass for a 46 yard score.
Richardson finished with 162 yards passing and 135 yards rushing for the Hornets (2-3, 2-2). Alex Anderson rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown, and Thomas also notched 73 yards receiving and a pair of scores. Brad Woodard rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown for TSU. Hurts completed 16 of his 23 passing attempts for 147 yards and one touchdown.
After another TSU touchdown ASU went into the second quarter trailing 14-7, but on the first play of the second quarter, Richardson hit Khalid Thomas who tip-toed down the sideline for 21 yards and evened the score at 14. ASU took the lead with less than four minutes left before halftime as Stanley Robinson scored from a yard out. The extra point was missed, but the Hornets had their 20-17 halftime lead. Kourtney Berry was able to reach the double digit mark for the fifth time this season finishing with 11 stops for ASU. TSU’s Zacch Bamijoko finished with a game high 14 tackles.
Saturday, October 3
Grambling State 59, Jackson State 27
The JSU hot seat continues to grow as the Tigers lost to Grambling at home in back to back seasons. Jonathan Williams passed for 327 yards and five touchdowns as Grambling State defeated Jackson State 59-27 on Saturday night at Veteran Stadium. GSU led 28-20 at halftime, but scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter after JSU closed to 38-27.
Williams threw scoring passes to Brandon Byrdsong, Chris Bazile, Ka’Jandre Domino and Chester Rogers. Martez Carter rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown. Jestin Kelly and Dre’ Fusilier also scored. Marc Orozco added a 29-yard field goal for Grambling. La Montiez Ivy completed 40-of-58 passes for 490 yards and three touchdowns for Jackson State (1-4, 1-2), which stayed close into the third quarter. Ivy also rushed for 93 yards and one touchdown on the ground. JSU’s three drives ended in a punt, a missed field goal, and an interception.
Alcorn State 61, Arkansas Pine Bluff 14
The Braves continue to roll as they won their 4th straight game by double digits. Joe Price and Darryan Ragsdale spearheaded a dominant rushing attack, leading Alcorn State to a 61-14 neutral site win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Little Rock. Price and Ragsdale each went over the 100-yard mark and scored on runs of 50 and 65 yards, respectively. Both touchdowns came in the first quarter as the Braves (4-1, 3-0) built a 28-7 lead. John Gibbs, Jr. rushed for three scores and passed for two more, hitting 7 of 10 passes for 103 yards. The Braves rushed 50 times for 418 yards and six scores.
The Golden Lions (1-4, 0-3) tied the game at 7-7 when Marcus Terrell found Kyle Coleman for a 10-yard touchdown. But it was all Alcorn from there, with the Braves scoring 53 of the game’s next 60 points. Terrell finished 8 of 15 for 74 yards and two interceptions.
Jacksonville State 49, Mississippi Valley State 0
Mississippi Valley State lost their 5th straight game by double digits falling to Jacksonville State 49-7.MVSU surrendered rushing touchdowns to Troymaine Pope and Eli Jenkins each and could never overcome JSU’s defense en route to their ninth straight loss dating back to the 2014 season.
The Delta Devils struggled to move the ball, totaling 194 yards and turning it over four times. Ruban Thurston Jr. scored the lone touchdown, a 29-yard run early in the second quarter to make the score 14-7. But the Gamecocks ran off 35 straight points to put the game out of reach.
Pope carried the ball seven times for 100 yards all in the first half. Jenkins had 48 yards and Josh Clemons and Bo Billups each added touchdown runs for the Gamecocks, who totaled 328 yards on the ground. Jenkins also threw for a score, completing 7 of 10 attempts for 127 yards and an interception.
Coastal Carolina 55, Alabama A&M 0
Alabama A&M suffered its third loss of the season at the hands Coastal Carolina 55-0. De’Angelo Henderson scored three touchdowns for CCU and rushed for 100 yards in the first half for the AAMU gained 311 yards of total offense, while the Coastal’s offense racked up 547 yards of its own. The bight spot for the Bulldogs was Johnathan Dorsey, who hauled in three catches for 75 yards. DeAngelo Ballard was held to 160 on 7-of-17 passing.
Bryan Brower and Anthony Lanier led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles apiece. Justin Brown finished with three stops and an interception. Over half of Coastal’s yardage came on the ground, thanks to Henderson, who set the Big South record for by scoring at least one touchdown in his 19th consecutive game. Henderson’s other pair of scores came through the air as he caught four passes for 44 yards to bring his all purpose yardage on the day to 146.
Coastal’s offense sputtered through the rest of the first quarter but came back to score on each of its first five drives starting with the second quarter into the third. Getting CCU started was a 12-yard run by Ross, Henderson had a 17-yard run, followed by a 25-yard reception for a TD. Ross then connected with Bruce Mapp to convert the two-point try for a 14-0 lead. Ross rolled to his right and completed a pass to Henderson, who made one defender miss before reaching the end zone for his third score of the game. Ryan Granger added the point after for a 21-0 lead. Granger split the uprights from 34 yards out to put Coastal on top 24-0 with 4:44 left. Coastal would score two more times inside the final four minutes.
Prairie View A&M 42, University of Faith 0
Prairie View A&M earned a 42-0 victory over the University of Faith Saturday afternoon at Waller ISD Stadium. The Panthers scored on its first possession as De’Auntre Smiley capped off of a six-play, 49-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to KhaDarel Hodge. Two drives later, the Panthers went up 14-0 as Johnta’ Hebert rushed in from 49 yards out.
Thanks to a sack and fumble recovery by Steven Guillory on the ensuing defensive possession, PVAMU moved on top 21-0 early in the second quarter as Trey Green found Nick Pitre on a 21-yard touchdown pass.
In the second half,Green found Pitre for the second time on the team’s opening drive growing the lead to 28-0 with 12:38 left. UOF turned the ball over on downs on its next drive and PVAMU moved ahead 35-0 as Green connected with Hebert for a seven-yard touchdown pass.
Smiley scored from one-yard in to open the fourth quarter to cap off the scoring as the Panthers returned to the winner’s column for the first time in two weeks. PVAMU finished with 500 total yards while only yielding 203 yards. Green passed for 204 yards and three touchdowns on 15-of-22 attempts while Pitre caught six passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Medina and Jalen Thibodeaux both had eight tackles and a sack. Thibodeaux also broke up a pair of passes and forced a fumble.
Due to a summer ruling by the NCAA which defined a varsity intercollegiate team, Saturday’s game was labeled an exhibition and will not count towards the SWAC and NCAA official statistics.
Football Players of the Week: October 5
Offensive Player of the Week
Ellis Richardson, Alabama State, Quarterback
The dual-threat signal-caller did it with his arms and legs against Texas Southern, accounted for 297 total yards of offense (162 pass, 135 rush) and accounting for four touchdowns in the Hornets’ 41-23 win at Texas Southern. Richardson threw for three scores and rushed for another versus the Tigers, and over the past two contests – both wins for Alabama State – he has been responsible for nine offensive touchdowns.
Defensive Player of the Week
Darien Anderson, Alcorn State, Linebacker
Anderson spear-headed the defensive effort for the Braves, racking up a game-high 11 total stops in Alcorn State’s 61-14 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Anderson was the only player to reach double-digits in tackles from either side, and he also had 1.5 tackles for loss for the Braves.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Haiden McCraney, Alcorn State, Kicker/Punter
The Braves’ junior specialist averaged 44.5 yards per punt (four punts for 178 yards) against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, pinning the Golden Lions’ offense inside its own 20-yard line on three of his attempts. In addition, he converted seven point-after attempts for Alcorn State.
Newcomer of the Week
Alex Anderson, Alabama State, Running back
Anderson was a considerable part of the Hornets’ run game against Texas Southern, as he rushed for 134 of the team’s 374 yards on the ground – in just 14 carries – and a touchdown in Alabama State’s 41-23 win. The freshman nearly averaged a first down per rush, and also caught one pass for four yards. Anderson’s score came on a 75-yard dash that put the Hornets ahead for good in the game, as it kicked off a run of 21 unanswered points for ASU.
