GRAMBLING, La. – Devante Kincade closed out his senior home campaign on Saturday with four total touchdowns as thirteenth-ranked Grambling State University cruised past Texas Southern, 50-24, in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.
“It’s good to get a victory today,” Grambling State head coach Broderick Fobbs said. “With Homecoming week, you’re always concerned about focus and distractions of that nature, but it was good to get a victory and good for our guys to go out and score some points and stop the run. All-in-all, I thought it was a really good performance.”
Kincade, who connected with eight different receivers on Saturday, threw for a season-high 347 yards on 21 of 34 passing with three touchdowns and rushed seven times for 22 yards and one score as Grambling State jumped out to a 14-3 first-quarter lead.
GSU (7-1 overall, 4-0 SWAC) marched 68 yards on its opening drive as Kincade connected with Marquise Kaigler for a 9-yard touchdown pass to give Grambling State a 7-0 lead with 11:26 left in the first quarter.
Grambling State extended the advantage to 14-0 on its next drive as Kincade scored on a 9-yard quarterback keeper with 7:28 left in the first.
Texas Southern (0-7, 0-4) capitalized on a Grambling State turnover and went 39 yards in seven plays as Aaron Cuevas booted a 27-yard field to close the gap to 14-3 with 2:11 in the opening quarter.
Grambling State quickly answered and capped off a 5-play, 65-yard drive as Jordan Jones rumbled 47 yards for the touchdown to extend the lead to 20-3 after Marc Orozco’s point after attempt was blocked with
14:48 left in the first half.
After a Texas Southern punt, Grambling State used an 8-play, 77-yard drive, as Dre’ Fusilier scored on a 1-yard run to push the advantage to 27-3 with 8:50 left in the second quarter.
Texas Southern answered and took advantage of a Fusilier fumble in the endzone as Demontairo Anderson pounced on the loose ball to give TSU the score and cut the deficit to 27-10 with 48 seconds remaining in the first half.
Grambling State got the lone score in the third quarter as Kincade found Devohn Lindsey for the 19-yard strike to extend the advantage to 34-10 with 1:38 remaining.
The Kincade-Martez Carter show was on full display early in the fourth quarter as the two combined for 60 yards on Grambling State’s next scoring drive with Carter scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run to push the margin to 41-10 with 11:08 left.
Texas Southern closed the gap to 41-17 on its next possession as Mario Smalls caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Elijah Odom with 7:47 left.
GSU’s defense, which allowed just 24 yards rushing on 27 attempts, clammed down and sacked Odom in the endzone for the safety and gave Grambling State a 43-17 advantage with 3:59 remaining. For Grambling State, it was the third safety the defense had earned this season.
GSU put the final touches on a great afternoon when Geremy Hickbottom scored on a 49-yard quarterback keeper to extend the margin to 50-17.
Texas Southern added one more score as Odom scored on a 9-yard run with 52 seconds remaining.
Turning Point
Grambling State led from start to finish against Texas Southern.
Devante Kincade’s big day was highlighted on his first drive and on his last.
The senior quarterback from Dallas, Texas led Grambling State to a 9-yard score on its first drive and found Marquise Kaigler for the 9-yard score to give GSU a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
Kincade closed out his home career with an 8-play, 66-yard drive with 60 of those yards going to Martez Carter. And in return, Carter closed out his home career with a 1-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach at 41-10.
Courtesy: GSU Athletics
