Late defensive stand ends Alcorn's four-game slide

LORMAN, MS — Alcorn State accomplished what it needed to Saturday against Southern University by snapping a four-game losing skid. But the game ended up being much closer than Alcorn would have liked.With just one touchdown in the second half, the Braves survived a late Jaguars surge with a last-minute defensive stop to escape with a 27-20 win.

“A win is a win is a win, and I’ll take it any way I can, but (we still made) mistakes,” Braves head coach Earnest Collins said. “Today, the difference in the mistakes we made the last few weeks is, we had a better defense out there to make up for it.”

Jags just short again

LORMAN, Miss. — Four yards.

On a beautiful sun-drenched afternoon in the Mississippi woods, after Southern had made so many mistakes, fallen asleep and fallen 24 points behind Alcorn State in the second half of yet another college football game to remember, the late-arriving, late-thriving Jaguars found themselves 4 yards away from a game-tying touchdown.

With less than a minute remaining in the Braves’ 27-20 thriller of a victory, both teams lined up for the most crucial play of all.Southern, still searching for its first big win under a new coaching staff, faced a fourth-and-goal at the 4.

Joseph comes alive in second half

LORMAN, Miss. — In the first half, he hurried throws, scrambled away from trouble, and watched as his receivers dropped a handful of on-the-money passes.

This was not how Southern quarterback Dray Joseph envisioned his first college start. Early on, in a heartbreaking, down-to-the-wire 27-20 loss at Alcorn State on Saturday, Joseph looked exactly like what he was: A true freshman who wanted to win it all by himself.

“He just had to calm down,” SU quarterbacks coach Ted White said. “He’s played in a couple games, but he still hasn’t had a lot of snaps. Until you get in there, in real live action, that’s when your experience starts to gather.”

Revitalized running game

LORMAN, Miss. — A renewed focus on the rushing game, and contributions from untapped sources played key roles for Alcorn State on Saturday afternoon at Jack Spinks Stadium.

Terrance Lewis and Jaquez Caldwell each scored touchdowns as Alcorn State held off a late Southern rally en route to a 27-20 win.

Before this week, Lewis had primarily played wide receiver while Caldwell had seen most of his action at running back, but those things changed against Southern.

Alcorn holds off late Southern rally, wins 27-20

Alcorn State jumped to a 24-point third quarter lead, then held off a frantic Southern comeback for a 27-20 Southwestern Athletic Conference win Saturay at Lorman, Mississippi.A fourth-and-goal pass by Southern's Dray Joseph got the Jaguars down to the Alcorn 1-yard line in the game's last minute, but fullback Lee Mitchell was tackled just short of tying the game.

Alcorn (4-4, 3-3 in the SWAC) led 27-3 after Terrance Lewis' 1-yard touchdown run with 10:26 left in the third quarter. But the Jaguars (2-6, 1-5) stormed back with a 5-yard touchdown run by Sylvester Nzekwe, a 22-yard field goal by William Griswold, who also kicked a 49-yarder in the first quarter, and a 54-yard run by Corey Cushingberry.

Attendance: 18,075

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