Mississippi football roundup: Alcorn, JSU lose heartbreakers; Belhaven and DSU win

Published 8:49 pm Saturday, November 9, 2019

GRAMBLING, La. (AP) — Miguel Mendez kicked a 45-yard field goal in overtime and Grambling handed Alcorn State its first Southwestern Athletic Conference loss, 19-16 on Saturday.

After Mendez’s field goal, the Braves (6-3, 4-1) drove to the 11 but got backed up to the 16 after a false start penalty on third-and-8. Corey McCullough missed a 33-yard field goal attempt that would have sent the game to a second overtime.

McCullough had made three field goals earlier in the game, but he missed the one in overtime and a 47-yard attempt as time expired in regulation.

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“This was a tough loss for us against a tough Grambling team. I credit Grambling for making enough plays to win the ball game, and we obviously didn’t do enough,” Alcorn coach Fred McNair said. “We didn’t finish drives and we threw interceptions in the red zone. We couldn’t sustain drives and that cost us the ball game. We fought hard, but we gave up two touchdowns and there’s a lot of things that we need to clean-up. We have to be able to execute, but we didn’t do a good job of it today.”

Alcorn saw its five-game winning-streak come to an end. The Braves had also won seven straight games against SWAC West Division opponents.

Grambling (5-4, 3-2) went on an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped by Charles Wright’s 29-yard TD pass to Kobe’ Ross that tied the game at 16-all with 1:07 left in regulation. Mendez missed the extra point attempt.

Geremy Hickbottom passed for 157 yards, Kevin Dominique rushed for 69 yards and Raylon Richardson caught six passes for 101 yards for Grambling.

Felix Harper had 269 yards passing, Niko Duffey had 158 yards from scrimmage and Raidarious Anderson caught six passes for 103 yards for Alcorn State.

Alabama A&M 48, Jackson State 43
Aqeel Glass threw four touchdown passes, including two in the final four minutes, to rally Alabama A&M past Jackson State on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (6-4, 3-2 SWAC) outscored the Tigers (4-6, 3-2) 28-13 in the wild fourth quarter.

Jordan Bentley, who finished with 132 yards on 25 carries, scored on a 7-yard run in the first minute of the fourth quarter and Marcus Cushine returned a fumble 53 yards to give Alabama A&M a 34-30 lead. But the Tigers rallied on Jalon Jones’ 8-yard pass to D.D. Bowie and Jones’ 51-yard run to lead 43-34.

The teams combined for 1,122 yards offense. Glass, the conference passing leader, was 25-of-40 for 410 yards. Freshman Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim made nine catches for a career-high 203 yards and two touchdowns.

Jones threw for three touchdowns for the Tigers. Keshawn Harper had 18 carries for 135 yards and Jones added 130 on 18 attempts.

Belhaven 25, Sul Ross State 6
Belhaven quarterback Hunter McEachern threw for one touchdown and ran for 74 yards, Brad Foley had 53 yards and a touchdown on the ground, and Belhaven (2-7, 2-6 American Southwest Conference) beat Sul Ross State (3-5, 3-4) for its first home win of the season.

LaMarcus Caradine and former Central Hinds Academy standout Nick Lauderdale each caught a touchdown pass for Belhaven, which scored 16 points in the first quarter and never trailed. Cade Ganey kicked two field goals.

Hendrix College 33, Millsaps 22
Miles Thompson threw two touchdown passes, Deondre Henry ran for two scores, and Hendrix College (6-3) beat Millsaps College (5-4).

Kip Vanhoose ran for 144 yards and a touchdown for Hendrix.

Amryn Jeffrey was 20-of-38 passing for 253 yards and three touchdowns for Millsaps, but threw two interceptions and was sacked twice.

Moise Tezzo caught five passes for 99 yards and one touchdown for the Majors, and Austin Russell caught six balls for 71 yards and two TDs. Mickale Massey led the defense with 16 total tackles, 4 1/2 tackles for loss, and 2 1/2 sacks.

West Alabama 35, Mississippi College 21
Jack McDaniels completed 17 of 22 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns, and added a rushing touchdown to lead West Alabama (6-4, 3-4 Gulf South Conference) past Mississippi College (4-5, 3-4).

McDaniels ran for a 2-yard touchdown and threw a 32-yard TD pass to Tyriq Martin in the third quarter to give West Alabama a 28-14 lead. Demetrius Battle added an 8-yard TD run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to make it a 21-point lead.

Mississippi College ran for 190 yards as a team — Jaylin Jones had a team-high 60 and one touchdown on 13 carries — but quarterback Detric Hawthorn was just 3-of-15 passing for 117 yards.

Delta State 35, West Georgia 20
Rico Owens ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Breck Ruddick had a team-high 154 rushing yards and one TD, and Delta State scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat West Georgia.

Owens scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter and a 2-yard run in the third. The latter gave Delta State (6-3, 5-2 Gulf South Conference) the lead for good, 21-10.

Ruddick scored on a 30-yard run with 3:32 left in the fourth quarter, and Marvin Terry sealed the win with an 8-yard fumble return touchdown in the final minute.

Garrett Bass threw two touchdown passes for West Georgia (6-4, 4-3).