Prairie View dumps Alcorn State
Published 9:37 pm Saturday, November 5, 2016
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (AP) — Alcorn State had a lot of rushing yards on Saturday, but continued to spin its wheels in the standings.
Jalen Morton scored two touchdowns on the ground and threw for another as Prairie View A&M overcame an early 14-point deficit to beat Alcorn 31-27.
Morton’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Darius Floyd with 4:05 left in the third quarter gave Prairie View (6-3, 6-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) its first lead of the game at 24-21. His 1-yard touchdown run capped a 13-play, 85-yard drive with 10:15 left and made it a 10-point game.
Alcorn (3-5, 3-4) lost its second game in a row and missed a chance to take over sole possession of first place in the SWAC’s East Division. A victory would have given the Braves a one-game lead over Jackson State, which lost 14-7 to Alabama State on Saturday. Instead, the two teams remained tied with two games left in the regular season.
Alcorn and JSU play each other Nov. 19 in Lorman.
Alcorn quarterback Noah Johnson made it a one-possession game Saturday by scoring on a 16-yard run with 6:46 remaining, but Alcorn punted on its next two possessions and turned it over on downs with 1:53 left.
Johnson finished with nine carries for 123 yards and three touchdowns for the Braves. He also completed 6 of 17 passes for 91 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. Alcorn’s other quarterback, Lenorris Footman, was 4-of-11 passing for 44 yards, and also ran for 22 yards.
As a team, Alcorn had 256 rushing yards.
Former Vicksburg High star Tavares Johnson, Jr., led Alcorn in receiving with five catches for 63 yards.
Alcorn jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half on an 8-yard TD run by De’Lance Turner and a 78-yard run by Noah Johnson. Prairie View scored the next 17 points to take the lead, however.
Morton was 10-of-29 passing for 100 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He also ran for 39 yards and two touchdowns.
Alabama State 14, Jackson State 7
Alex Anderson scored on a 15-yard run with 9:01 left for the go-ahead touchdown as Alabama State (3-6, 3-5 SWAC) defeated Jackson State (3-6, 3-4).
Anderson’s score was set up when Christian Jacquemin punted the ball 30 yards with the Tigers at their own 12-yard line. Khalid Thomas returned it 12 yards, and a Jackson State penalty put Alabama State in scoring position.
Jackson State quarterback Jarin Morikawa threw for 234 yards and a touchdown.
Mississippi Valley State 41, UAPB 7
Slade Jarman completed 17 of 23 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns, and Mississippi Valley State routed Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-8, 1-6 SWAC) for its first win of the season.