Prairie View A&M had no trouble at all in its home opener against conference foe Texas Southern, cruising to a 52-14 win Sunday in the annual Labor Day Classic at Panther Stadium. Tevin Carter threw for four touchdowns and ran for another, and Jahbari Kuykendall returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a score as the Panthers never let Texas Southern into the game.
Kuykendall set the tone just 15 seconds into the game, taking the opening kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown. Carter added a 24-yard touchdown pass to Damien McDaniel and Ethan Eddins connected on a 37-yard field goal to make it 17-0 after one quarter.
Texas Southern (1-1, 0-1 SWAC) answered in the second quarter on Cam’Ron McCoy’s 17-yard touchdown run, but Prairie View seized full control in the third, scoring on all four of its possessions. Carter capped a five-play drive with a 24-yard touchdown run, then found Travon Jones for a 39-yard score and Chase Bingmon for a 46-yard touchdown before punching it in himself on a 2-yard run to make it 45-7 entering the fourth. Carter added a short touchdown pass to Jones in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
Carter finished 16 of 22 passing for 217 yards and four touchdowns, adding 17 rushing yards and a score on seven carries. Bingmon led the ground game with 60 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries and caught four passes for 59 yards and another score. Rodny Ojo hauled in three catches for 68 yards, and Jones had three receptions for 36 yards and two touchdowns.
Prairie View’s defense was disruptive throughout, sacking Texas Southern quarterbacks seven times for 32 yards and forcing two turnovers. Malachi Williams recorded three sacks among his six tackles, and DeMarcus Wynn and Dorian Gates each forced and recovered fumbles. Kamrin Canterbury led all tacklers with 11 stops.
Despite being outgained 318-398 in total yards and holding a lopsided time-of-possession advantage of 40:22 to 17:35, Texas Southern (1-1, 0-1 SWAC) could never find the end zone against Prairie View’s defense until Ri’Jon Hammond capped a 14-play, 71-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run with five seconds left. McCoy completed 10 of 19 passes for 81 yards and ran for a score, while Athean Renfro led Texas Southern’s rushing attack with 85 yards on 17 carries.
Prairie View (1-1, 1-0 SWAC) converted 4 of 4 red-zone chances into touchdowns and got a career-best day in the return game, averaging 55 yards per kickoff return on top of Kuykendall’s opening score.
This story was compiled and drafted with the assistance of AI tools, using official game statistics, and reviewed for accuracy prior to publication.
