SWAC Week 9 Review:
Charles Wells, SWAC Contributor | November 04, 2015
Alabama State 35, Alabama A&M 20
Daniel Duhart ran for three touchdowns and threw for two to lead Alabama State to a 35-20 win over Alabama A&M in the 74th Magic City Classic on Saturday afternoon at Legion Field. Duhart scored on 15 and one yard runs in the first quarter and a one yard TD in the third to close the scoring for the Hornets Brandon Eldemire notched two touchdowns for the Bulldogs to tie the game at 14 early in the second quarter before Duhart connected with Brandon Barnes for 60 yards and Josh Davis for 18 in the second quarter for a 28-14 lead at the half. Khalid Thomas rushed for 100 yards on 20 carries for ASU while Duhart completed 12 of 22 passes for 228 yards. De’Angelo Ballard completed 16 of 42 for 194 yards and Rashad Anderson threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to O’Darius Williams on a trick play for A&M to round out their scoring.
Prairie View 54, Arkansas Pine Bluff 29
Prairie View A&M fell behind early but a strong defensive effort spearheaded a 40-point swing as the Panthers claimed a 54-29 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Waller ISD Stadium. Trey Green was 21-for-28 passing for 261 yards and had a career-high five total touchdowns for PVAMU UAPB jumped out to an early 14-0 lead when Brandon Duncan threw a 5-yard scoring pass to John Hawkins, and Daunte McDonald ran for a 1-yard score. The Panthers got on the board when wide receiver Christian Rousseau completed an 8-yard scoring pass to John Allen on fourth-and-4. Later, Green threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Demarquo Lastrappe to tie it at 14 before halftime. Prairie View broke the game open by scoring 26 straight points after halftime. Green had scoring runs of 1 and 25 yards during the spurt. Duncan finished with 308 yards passing, three touchdowns and an interception for Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Hawkins caught three passes for 101 yards.
Alcorn State 48, Southern 7
Alcorn State made four in row with a 48-7 victory over Southern Saturday in heavy pelting rain at A.W. Mumford Stadium Saturday afternoon. The defending SWAC champion and East Division-leading Braves stung the Jaguars with a 78-yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage. The Braves lost senior quarterback John Gibbs Jr., the SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year who had orchestrated the four previous wins against Southern, to a leg injury after two offensive plays and but didn’t miss a beat. Sophomore Lenorris Footman checked in at QB and rushed for 274 yards and four touchdowns and tossed two more touchdown passes. The Jaguars lost its second consecutive home game for the first time in three years. They now trail both Grambling and Prairie View, which holds the head-to-head tiebreaker. Southern fell behind 21-0 after less than 15 minutes but got within 21-7 at halftime and was threatening to make it a one-score deficit on its first possession of the third quarter. A 43-yard run by Lenard Tillery, who finished with 132 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, helped the Jaguars reach the Alcorn 10, but on fourth-and-2 Stacey Garner stopped Tillery for no gain. That led to a four-touchdown blitz that contributed to Southern’s worst home loss since a 54-7 defeat against Texas Southern in 2010.
The four touchdowns came in a seven-minute span, thanks in part to the Braves forcing two fumbled snaps. Footman ran 17 yards for a touchdown, passed 38 yards to Brandon Campbell for a score, then raced to the end zone from 30 and 60 yards. That left the Braves, who beat Southern 56-16 last season in Lorman, Mississippi, with a 48-7 lead with 13:53 remaining. Alcorn, which was minus-7 in turnovers coming into the game, finished plus-2 as Southern lost four fumbles.
Jackson State 26, Mississippi Valley State 16
Jackson State survived a scare on the road against rival Mississippi Valley State Saturday afternoon escaping with a 26-16 win from Rice-Totten Stadium. JSU jumped on the board first with a 36 and 33 yard field goal respectively early in the first quarter. The Delta Devils responded with a 32-yard touchdown interception return by Farrean Toney . After an unsuccessful PAT, the score remained tied at 6-6 at halftime. With 7:57 left to play in the third, Ruben Piraquive split the uprights from 27-yards out to take MVSU’s first lead 9-6.. Later in the quarter, Slade Jarman scampered into the end zone from two-yards out; Piraquive’s extra point made it 16-6. Jackson State’s Ryan Deising placed a 24-yard field goal, to bring the score to 16-9. An eight yard touchdown run by Jordan Williams, a 24 yards passing touchdown to Dan Williams and another 33 yard field goal from Deising completed the rally for the Tigers. Javancy Jones led all tacklers with nine for the Tigers. Defensively, Charles Moore tallied eleven total tackles to lead MVSU.
Week 9 players of the week
Offensive Player of the Week
Lenorris Footman, Alcorn State, Quarterback
Filling in for senior quarterback John Gibbs, Jr., Footman accounted for six total touchdowns to lead the defending SWAC champions to a 48-7 road victory over Southern. Footman rushed for 274 yards on 16 carries, scoring four touchdowns on the day. He was also 3-for-7 for 71 yards and two more scores. His rushing scores covered 44, 17, 30, and 60 yards, and he helped to power a rushing attack that rolled up 484 yards on the ground against the Jaguars.
Defensive Player of the Week
Kourtney Berry, Alabama State, Linebacker
Berry racked up 13 total stops in helping the Hornets win the 74th Annual Magic City Classic to the tune of 35-20 over Alabama A&M. He also made a tackle for loss and recovered a fumble that halted a potential scoring drive for the Bulldogs. Berry is now up to 101 total tackles this season, a figure leads the conference by more than 20.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Booker Chambers, Mississippi Valley State, WR/Return Specialist
Chambers was a bright spot for the Delta Devils in their 26-16 loss to Jackson State, as he amassed 168 total return yards during the contest. He returned three punts for 32 yards, with a long of 19. His five kickoff returns netted him 136 total yards, with a 57-yarder being his longest of the game. Thanks to his efforts in special teams, he led all players in all-purpose yardage during the contest.
Newcomer of the Week
KhaDarel Hodge, Prairie View A&M, Wide Receiver
Hodge hauled in a season-high six grabs for 104 yards and a touchdown in Prairie View A&M’s 54-29 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Hodge was particularly effective on the drive that ultimately resulted in the Panthers – who had fallen behind 14-0 before scoring 40 unanswered points – taking their first lead of the game, as he made three catches for 70 yards during the possession. Later in the contest, he got his hands on a 10-yard touchdown from Trey Green.