Texas Southern showed its defense is for real as the Tigers grounded the Jackson State “Air Raid” attack. Grambling and Alabama State kept MVSU and Savannah State winless on the season, and Prairie View defeated Southern in the inaugural Shreveport Classic.
Texas Southern 21, Jackson State 18
Houston, Texas – Box Score / Marcus Wright ran for 139 yards and a touchdown and Arvell Nelson added 115 rushing yards and two scores as Texas Southern held off Jackson State 21-18 Saturday.
Wright rushed 26 times while Nelson scored on a 12-yard run and a 1-yarder and passed for 62 yards.
Texas Southern (4-3, 4-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) finished with 295 yards on the ground while holding Jackson State (5-2, 3-2) to minus-6.
Jackson State’s Casey Therriault threw for 256 yards and connected with Marcellos Wilder on an 10-yard TD pass. Kerry Hoskins had a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Grambling 35, Mississippi Valley State 14
Greenville, Miss. – Box Score / Frank Warren rushed for 209 yards and two touchdowns as Grambling State beat Mississippi Valley State 35-14 on Saturday.
Warren carried 29 times and sealed the win for the Tigers (6-1, 6-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) with 85- and 39-yard touchdown runs in the fourth quarter. Danny Reyes passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as Grambling had 516 yards total offense.
Reyes’ 77-yard touchdown pass to Kiare Thompson gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead, and a 16-yard pass to Ryan Allen put the Tigers up 14-0 with 9:09 left in the third quarter.
After the Delta Devils (0-7, 0-5) pulled within 14-7 on Oliver Hughes’ 86-yard touchdown pass to Paul Cox, Reyes led a 14-play, 69-yard drive that ate up 8:32 and ended with his 1-yard touchdown run.
Reyes completed 11 of 15 passes for 259 yards, and Bakari Maxwell had four receptions for 126 yards.
Alabama State 24, Savannah State 0
Montgomery, Ala. – Box Score / Devin Dominguez completed 18 of 27 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns as Alabama State beat Savannah State 24-0 on Saturday.
The Hornets (4-3) took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter after an 8-yard touchdown pass from Dominguez to Nick Andrews.
Dominguez hooked up with Landon Jones on a 12-yard scoring pass in the third quarter as Alabama State entered the fourth with a 14-0 lead.
Florida Gators transfer Jacques Rickerson returned an interception 59 yards for a score less than two minutes into the final quarter as the Hornets took a 21-0 lead over the Tigers (0-8).
Andrew Lyons added a 36-yard field goal with 5:54 remaining in the game.
Jordan McFadden had a game-high 91 yards receiving for Alabama State in the victory, while the Hornets defense held Savannah State to 167 yards of total offense.
Prairie View A&M 30, Southern 16
Shreveport, La. – Box Score / Donald Babers rushed for two touchdowns and K.J. Black passed for two more as Prairie View A&M came back to beat Southern University 30-16 Saturday.
The Panthers (5-3, 4-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) trailed 16-7 before Quinton Spears’ punt block with 47 seconds left in the first half resulted in a safety.
Raheem Caldwell recovered a fumble on Southern’s first second-half possession, and Black threw a 22-yard touchdown pass toShaun Stephens two plays later to tie the game at 16.
Babers capped a nine-play, 51-yard drive with a 1-yard run that gave the Panthers a 23-16 lead with 8:51 left. After Southern (2-5, 1-4) turned the ball over on downs with 5:19 remaining, Black led a seven-play, 66-yard drive that ended with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Glen Upshaw.
Babers had 122 yards on 27 carries and Black completed 20 of 32 passes for 306 yards.