NEW ORLEANS — Frank Warren rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns as Grambling defeated Southern 38-17 in Bayou Classic XXXVII before a crowd of 43, 494 in the Louisiana Superdome.
The Jaguars scored first taking advantage of a muffed punt return by Grambling’s Kiare Thompson to set up a 27 yard William Griswald field goal at the 12:23 mark of the first quarter.
Warren would touch pay dirt wit h 4:24 remaining in the quarter before Zoltan Riazzo’s field goal from 27 yards out put the Tigers up 10-3 early in the second quarter. Grambling would use another Warren run followed by a 17 yard interception return by defensive lineman Jomarcus Savage to pull away24-3 with 3:23 remaining in the half.
SU’s Sylvester Nzekwe would plunge in from a yard out with 13-seconds remaining and cut the G-Men’s lead to 24-10 at the break.
Grambling opened the second half the way they finished the first taking advantage of the exposed right side of the Southern defense for a 16 yard Warren scoring rush for the lone sscore of the period. Anthony Carrothers would hook up with tight end Larry Donnell from two-yards out for the Tigers final score of the evening with just over 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
Warren, who carried 21 times and scored on runs of 1, 1 and 16 yards, became the second-leading rusher in Southwestern Athletic Conference history with 3, 910 career yards.
Carrothers had a career night going 13-of-15 for 167 yards and a score; while Thompson led eight different Tigers receivers with three catches for 72 yards. Defensively, Derrick Wilhite led the charge with nine tackles, Bruna’ Foster had five tackles and an interception.
Dray Joseph led the Jaguars offense coming off the bench to complete 11-of-16 passes for 148 yards. Starting quarterback Jeremiah McGinity led the team in rushing with 48 yards on four carries. Levi Jackson had 14 tackles to lead the Jags defense. The special teams unit was a bright point for Southern with Richard Wilson returning five kickoffs for 129 yards.
The Tigers (9-2, 8-1) rebounded from a 41-34 overtime loss at Texas Southern. The Jaguars (2-9, 1-8) lost their sixth consecutive game and nine games for the first time in school history.
Grambling, winning the Bayou Classic for the third consecutive season, took a 19-18 edge in the Classic and evened the series between the two schools at 29-29. It was the Tigers’ largest margin of victory in the
series since a 30-3 triumph in 1986.
Warren was named Grambling’s most valuable player; while Joseph received the same honors for Southern.
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