Grambling State Athletics
Grambling State led by two touchdowns early, but Alabama A&M scored 44 unanswered points between the second and third quarters and beat the Tigers 61-31 on Saturday at Louis Crews Stadium. Grambling State fell to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in SWAC play.
The Bulldogs improved to 6-2 and 3-1 in front of 14,096 fans. A&M outgained the Tigers 669 yards to 241 and held the ball for 33:37 to Grambling State’s 26:23.
Grambling State got the ball right back when Christen Williams intercepted Cornelious Brown on A&M’s first snap. The Tigers struck first on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jacobe Robinsonto Tyson George, capping a three-play, 27-yard drive. Diego Alfaro added a 35-yard field goal for a 10-3 lead late in the first quarter. Alfaro also handled kickoff duties, sending six kicks for 346 yards with three touchbacks.
Early in the second quarter, Robinson hit Nae’Saan Dickerson for 47 yards, and Andre Crews finished the three-play, 59-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run to make it 17-3. Crews finished with 40 yards on eight carries. From there Alabama A&M took over. Brown scored on an 8-yard run, then threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Jaylan Bean. David Faulk’s 56-yard field goal as the half expired gave the Bulldogs a 19-17 lead at the break.
Alabama A&M scored 35 points in the third quarter, with four touchdowns in a span of about eight minutes, and held the ball for 11:18 of the period to the Tigers’ 3:42. Brown threw touchdown passes of 6, 67 and 19 yards to Bean, and Kolton Nero added a 14-yard touchdown run. Bean finished with 10 catches for 240 yards and four touchdowns.
The Tigers got a spark when Tony Phillips Jr. returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown with 1:41 left in the quarter. Lantavious Murphy converted the two-point try, cutting the deficit to 47-25. Phillips finished with four returns for 178 yards, and GSU totaled 227 kickoff return yards on seven returns. Alabama A&M answered immediately with a 46-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Jarel Williams as the quarter ended. Williams caught five passes for 112 yards.
Tyler Thomas broke a 52-yard touchdown run to make it 61-25. Zerrick Jones closed the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 with 22 seconds left. Jones carried six times for 38 yards.
Brown finished 22-of-38 for 417 yards and five touchdowns with one interception, and he also ran for a score. A&M passed for 433 yards and rushed for 236, averaging 6.1 yards per carry and 8.5 yards per play. Byron Perrilliat led the ground game with 48 yards on 10 carries. The Bulldogs converted 6 of 13 third downs and earned 29 first downs to Grambling State’s 13.
Robinson completed 7 of 12 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown. George led the Tigers with seven catches for 93 yards. Grambling State managed 92 rushing yards (2.9 per carry) and converted just 2 of 12 third downs, though the Tigers were a perfect 4-for-4 in the red zone.
On defense, Marcellius Johnson led GSU with 14 tackles, and Demone Green added 12 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss. The Tigers recorded 6.0 tackles for loss as a team. Alabama A&M had four sacks, and Preston Clendenin came up with an interception. Alexander Davis punted eight times for a 42.8-yard average, with three punts of 50-plus yards and a long of 58.