SHREVEPORT, La. – Grambling State ended the 2021 spring football season with a 49-7 loss to Southern in the 47th Bayou Classic at Independence Stadium.
“Hats off to Southern University, they did an awesome job,” said GSU Tigers head coach Broderick Fobbs. “It is what it is, but we’re not going to hang our heads at Grambling. There were a lot of things that happened to us that not too many know about, and at the end of the day, I’m proud of my kids for fighting the way they fought in the midst of everything that they’ve had to deal with behind closed doors.”
The Tigers allowed 14 points in each of the first three quarters, but were able to respond early in the second half when quarterback Elijah Walker found redshirt senior Raylon Richardson on a 13-yard strike with a perfect back-shoulder pass in the back of the end zone on a sustained, seven-play 75-yard drive in the third quarter. Walker also connected with Richardson on a 32-yard pass before redshirt freshman running back CJ Russell knifed through the Jags defense for a 20-yard run to set up the touchdown pass on the next play for Grambling.
Walker completed 9-of-14 passes for 65 yards and one passing touchdown to go along with 56 yards rushing, but lost a total of 39 yards in sacks in his first Bayou Classic.
Also read: Grambling State’s road to the Bayou Classic has been a treacherous one
“After the game, I told my team that I’m proud of them,” expressed Fobbs. “It sounds crazy, but I’m proud of them. It is very difficult to come to work every day and deal with what our kids have had to deal with, and some of the things that have been placed in front of them, and the mere fact that they were able to overcome all of that, and still have a positive attitude and still work hard and still come out here and compete the best that they possibly could, and to me that’s a win. Wins are not always on the scoreboard; of course we want to win football games and we want to win championships, but to me championships start from within, and when you do the kind of things that I saw our kids do in the last couple of weeks, it’s there. We just have to get the other pieces that are already on the way, and do what we’re supposed to do.”
Richardson was named team-MVP for Grambling as he led the Tigers with three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown while GSU running back Lyndemain Brooks finished with nine carries for a team-high 71 yards on the ground. Redshirt freshman CJ Russell chipped in with 36 rushing yards and fellow Tiger senior tight end Dorrell James added 18 receiving yards on three catches.
On the defensive end, GSU redshirt sophomore Lewis Matthews generated a game-high 11 tackles while junior linebacker Joshua Reed, redshirt junior defensive back Anthony Boston and redshirt junior defensive lineman Cameron Richardson each added six tackles apiece in the loss. Boston finished with a game-high five solo tackles for the G-Men.
Grambling freshman punter Marquise McKnight produced a game-high 227 yards on six punts, including a 56-yarder.
Courtesy: Grambling State Athletics
