Grambling surges past Southern in the second half to win Bayou Classic 52-30, secure spot in SWAC championship game

NEW ORLEANS -- The Grambling Tigers left no room for doubt about who was the best team on the Mercedes-Benz Superdome turf for Saturday's 43rd Bayou Classic.

Grambling gashed Southern and its previously stingy defense for 571 yards. It forced a pair of critical early turnovers against a Jaguars unit that had taken great care of the ball all season and kept an explosive Southern offense largely at bay.

Most importantly, Grambling snapped Southern’s eight-game winning streak and extended its own to nine, punching its ticket to the SWAC championship game and ending Southern’s season with a 52-30 win.

All of this was despite a herculean effort from Southern running back Lenard Tillery, whose college career ended on a day when he ran for nearly 200 yards in the first half. He finished with 230 yards on 25 carries and three total touchdowns.

Thanks to Tillery’s heroics, it was only a four-point game at halftime. Then Grambling (9-1, 9-0) stepped on the accelerator and breezed past Southern (8-3, 8-1) with a series of explosive plays.

Grambling quarterback Devante Kincade was effective through the air, but it was his legs that lit the powder keg when he zoomed through the heart of the Jaguars defense for a 45-yard touchdown on the Tigers’ first drive of the second half.

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