Saturday, November 24, 2018

PVAMU Football De-Claws the Tigers Wrapping Up the 2018 Season

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- The Prairie View A&M football team defeated Texas Southern 60-14, in their final game of the season at Panther Stadium on Saturday.

 Seniors Jontre Epps, Quinton Bell, Issac Claiborne, TyQuan Fields, Nathan Foreman, Zach Collins, Jamal Fontenot, Willie Green, Cedric Porter, Aaron Townsend, Markus Hardy, Will Skinner, Anthony Stubbs, Damond Jackson, D'Marcus Moon and Steven Guillory were all honored at the beginning of their final collegiate game as a Panther

The seniors that played their final minutes gave their last game of the season a different and more special meaning.

 Head coach Eric Dooley said the win, and great showing from the defense in particular, both came down to the team-oriented playing style shown by players.

 "It was a team thing," he said. "We had a lot of seniors on defense. Those guys played for one another, as they have all year long. We came out on top this year, that's why there's more smiles."

 The teams traded scores in the first quarter. The Panthers (5-6) got on the board first after a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Jalen Morton, giving them the early 7-0 lead. Morton accounted for both touchdowns in the first quarter, after another 9-yard rush touchdown with under six minutes remaining. PVAMU went into the second quarter leading 13-7 over the Tigers.

 The Panther's controlled the game throughout the second quarter. After a 66-yard rush, Morton gave the team a 20-7 lead with 12:39 left in the period. Caleb Broach also contributed to the dominating quarter with a 2-yard rushing touchdown at the 6:18 mark. Tristen Wallace then scored the last points of the period after catching a 19-yard pass from Morton, allowing PVAMU some half time cushion with a 40-14 lead.

 Prairie View A&M continued their dominant showing after the brak. Trazon Connley completed a 31-yard pass to Hardy for their first touchdown of the second half with 9:03 left in the period. After intercepting a TSU pass, Skinner completed a 23-yard return and lengthened PVAMU's lead 53-14. Connley threw for his second touchdown of the quarter to Andre Lewis for 64 yards.

 The Panther's defense kept Texas Southern out of the end zone throughout the fourth. Enabling PVAMU to both start and end the fourth quarter leading 60-14, the largest margin of victory in the history of the Labor Day Classic series.

 Coming out of the final game of the season, Morton looked back on his 'bittersweet' final game playing with a number of players he came into the program with.

 "[I'm] excited and sad," he said. "Excited because we won the game, that's what we're supposed to do. Sad because it's the last game with the seniors. I came in with a lot of these seniors and it's sad because,it's our last game and I have a great bond with them."
Dooley said now that the season is over, the team has found a sense of identity and now understands his way of play.

 "They know who I am now," he said. "They know what I stand for and now they know their identification, which is: 'we're going to play hard for 60 minutes regardless of who we play and what we do'. It's going to be some adversity, but you have to be able to overcome those things. I think the team has gotten stronger through the loses. You never can benefit off of losses, but when you lose it gives you that strength and understanding."

 With the season coming to a close, the coaches will now focus on recruiting in the off season and the team will start preparing for Spring Football.

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 As the football careers of some come to a close, Dooley said he reminded his players of today's meaning.
"I tried to warn the guys, even the guys that weren't seniors, that when this day comes and that opportunity is over, it's like the world ended. But it's really not, it's the ending of something and the start of something new. We want to make sure that when those young men leave here they're successful no matter what."

 PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY PANTHERS ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
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