BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Prairie View A&M redshirt junior quarterback Jalen Morton, Grambling State senior linebacker De’Arius Christmas, Grambling State sophomore wide receiver/return specialist Malik Route and Texas Southern graduate student and wide receiver Bobby Hartzog were all named the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Football Players of the Week in week four of the season for their outstanding play.
Offensive
Prairie View A&M
Jalen Morton (R-JR, QB, Arlington, Texas)
Morton accounted for 511 yards and six touchdowns as he set a single-game school record with 255 rushing yards, and tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns as Prairie View A&M defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 62-13. Morton broke John Payton ’s 64-year old single-game school record of 253 rushing yards set in 1953. It was the fourth time in school history a Panther player rushed for four touchdowns in a game. (Ed Price 1952; Payton 1954; Archie Seals 1958).
Morton rushed eight times for 255 yards and four touchdowns (career-high 89, 37, 1, 21). He completed 16 of 24 passes for 256 yards and two touchdown passes (career-high 75, 6). His offense led to a school-record 815 yards of total offense. The Panthers’ 62 points scored was the most since scoring 67 points in 1959.
Defensive
Grambling State
De’Arius Christmas (SR, LB, Vicksburg, Miss.)
Christmas returned an interception 66 yards to complete a first-quarter scoring spurt as the Tigers built a 21-0 lead and did not look back in a 34-0 victory against Alabama State. Christmas also added three tackles and one quarterback hurry.
Specialist
Grambling State
Malik Route (SO, WR/RS, Tucker, Ga.)
Route opened the scoring with his first-career punt return, a 79-yard return, which gave Grambling State a 7-0 lead on the Tigers’ way to 34-0 win against Alabama State.
Newcomer
Texas Southern
Bobby Hartzog (Grad., WR, Houston, TX)
Hartzog caught nine passes for 173 yards and a touchdown against the University of Houston. His 95-yard TD reception tied for the longest completion for a score in school history.
Courtesy: SWAC
