NACOGDOCHES, Texas –
In one of the wildest games in Prairie View A&M history in which there were 1,409 yards of total offense, the Panthers played their hearts out and held on for a 56-48 win over Stephen F. Austin on a rainy night at Homer Bryce Stadium. The win was the first over SFA in school history and the first win over a Southland Conference opponent since 1985.
It took only six plays for SFA to jump on the board as running back Gus Johnson scored from a yard out to claim a 6-0 lead. The PAT was good as the Lumberjacks claimed an early 7-0 advantage with 13:34 left in the quarter. After a quick three-and-out by the Panthers, the Lumberjacks moved ahead by two scores as they drove 61 yards in five plays for a 14-0 lead at the 10:53 mark.
The Panthers began to click on its second drive as running backs Johnta' Hebert and
Courtney Brown combined for two big runs to move the Panthers into scoring position.
Jerry Lovelocke capped off the drive as he found wide receiver
Gabe Dunlap for a 13-yard pass. Barrick's PAT was good as the Panthers trailed 14-7.
The Panther defense found its stride at the quarter's midway point as they forced two straight turnovers, the latter a recovered fumble at the SFA 8 by linebacker
Jerome Howard. The Panther offense rewarded the defense with a touchdown as Lovelocke found
Patrick Gant for a 3-yard pass at the 3:42 mark. Barrick's PAT was good as the game was tied at 14-all.
After a three-and-out by SFA, the Panthers hit the field once again and continued to roll as Lovelocke found wideout
Deandre Cooper for a 39-yard strike to move into scoring position. Three plays later, Lovelocke moved the Panthers on top as he rushed in from four yards out en route to a 21-14 lead after Barrick's PAT.
After another three-and-out, the offense kept the momentum going as they gambled on fourth down and hit pay dirt as Lovelocke found Cooper for a 39-yard strike. Barrick's PAT sailed through the uprights as the Panthers led 28-14 with slightly more than 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Several drives later, a tipped pass led to an SFA interception and the Lumberjacks used that momentum to draw within 28-21 as Brady Attaway found Marquis Mosley for a 7-yard scoring strike.
The Panthers had a quick three-and-out on the ensuing drive and SFA caught PV's special teams for a surprise as Mike Brooks returned it 64 yards to the PV 10. However, the defense held its ground and the Lumberjacks had to settle for a field goal as they trailed 28-24 with 2:50 left in the half. On the ensuing kickoff, it appeared Hebert was headed for a 97-yard touchdown return but the play was nullified due to a penalty. Unfortunately, the next drive stalled as PV was forced to punt. The punt ended up being a touchback and on the first play of the next drive, SFA went deep for an 80-yard touchdown strike and regained a 31-28 lead following the PAT with 1:25 left in the quarter.
Despite the setback, the Panthers persevered on their next drive as they marched 73 yards in eight plays to reclaim the lead as Lovelocke hooked up with Gant for the second time. Barrick nailed the PAT as PV took a 35-31 lead into the half and capped off a wild half in which they combined for over 800 yards of offense.
Prairie View A&M opened the second half with a 75-yard scoring drive as Lovelocke rushed in from three yards out. The PAT was good as PV led 42-31 with 9:56 left. On SFA's opening drive, the Lumberjacks drove deep into PV territory but the defense held its ground as SFA had to settle for a field goal and a 42-34 deficit. Once again, the Panthers wasted no time in padding their lead as Lovelocke found tight end Olatunde Idowu for a 40-yard strike on the next drive. Five plays later, Lovelocke capped off the seven-play, 85-yard drive with a four-yard rush for a 49-41 margin following Barrick's PAT to close out the scoring in the third quarter.
With SFA driving to open the fourth quarter, PV senior linebacker
Raheem Cardwell picked off SFA's Brady Attaway for a huge interception to thrwat its latest drive. The Panthers failed to capitalize and were forced to punt on their next possession but once again, the defense came up huge as they stopped SFA at the PV 14 on a fourth down conversion.
PV punted on its next drive and SFA regained its groove as they needed only two plays to draw within 48-41 following a 76-yard touchdown from Attaway to Aaron Thomas with 6:33 remaining. Once again, SFA's defense held its ground as they forced PV to punt for the fourth consecutive time but the defense came up huge as cornerback
Foster Brown II stripped SFA's Fred Ford of the ball which landed in the hands of safety
David Metcalf.
After a gain of zero yards to open the drive, junior running back
Courtney Brown broke several tackles and raced 41 yards for a two-touchdown score as the Panthers led 56-41 with 2:52 remaining in the contest. However, SFA refused to go away as Attaway led SFA on 67-yard drive that was capped off with a 26-yard pass to Mike Brooks en route to a 56-48 PV lead.
PV failed to gain a first down on its final drive of the night and was forced to punt the ball to SFA's offense once again. On the punt return, SFA's Mike Brooks broke free for a 28-yard scamper which set up the Lumberjacks at their own 50 with 1:12 remaining.
On the final drive of the game, SFA opened it with an 18-yard reception and conveted a big 3rd-and-3 to get to the PV 12 with time running down. After a completed pass on first down to the 9, Attaway fumbled the ball for a six-yard loss and misfired twice from the 15-yard line to end the game.
The Panthers amassed 582 yards of offense with Lovelocke leading the way as he threw for 380 yards and four touchdowns on 32-of-47 passing. He also scored three rushing touchdowns while rushing for 26 yards. Brown tallied 89 yards and a touchdown on eight attempts while Dunlap caught 10 passes for a career-high 100 yards followed by a career-high 113 yards on four receptions from
Deandre Cooper. Defensively, the Panthers had a tough time containing the SFA offense in spurts but was a turnover machine as they forced five turnovers. Senior safety
Desmond Gardiner led the way with 11 tackles and a tackle for loss followed by 11 tackles, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble from junior linebacker
Jerome Howard. Redshirt freshman
Joshua Holley and
Chuck Obi both eclipsed the double digit mark with 10 tackles apiece.
The Panthers return to action next weekend as they'll face Grambling State in the annual State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. This year's game will feature a new kickoff time as the contest will begin at
4:30 p.m.
PHOTO GALLERY
COURTESY PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
Offensive Records Fall In Loss To Prairie View
NACOGDOCHES, Texas –
Brady Attaway passed for a Southland Conference and school record 662 yards and
Aaron Thomas set a conference record with 242 yards receiving but it was not enough to overcome five turnovers and a talented Prairie View A&M squad in a 56-48 loss Saturday evening at Homer Bryce Stadium.
Saturday’s game saw a combined 1,409 yards of offense in which SFA (2-3) set multiple offensive records, including an SLC record 827 yards of total offense along with three wide receivers (Thomas 10 rec. 242 yds,
DJ Ward 8 rec. 170 yds,
Tyler Boyd 10 rec. 100 yds) eclipsing the 100-plus yardage mark in the defeat.
The Panthers (3-2) put up prolific offensive numbers as well, accumulating 582 yards of total offense (380 yds passing, 202 rushing) in defeating SFA for the first time in seven career chances (1-5-1).
PV quarterback Jerry Lovelocke accounted for seven Panther touchdowns, three of which came on the ground. The Panthers also had two receivers go over the century mark in receiving yards (Deandre Cooper 4 rec. 113 yds and Gabe Dunlap 10 rec. 100 yds).
The ‘Jacks looked to be in control of things early on, scoring the game’s first two touchdowns on one-yard scores from
Gus Johnson (18 carries, 182 yds) and
Joshawa West. However, that momentum would be short lived with the Panthers scoring the next 28 unanswered points into the middle stages of the second quarter.
During that stretch Lovelocke passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another to build the Panthers lead to 28-14 at the 11:06 mark. SFA came right back though, scoring 17 straight points of their own to regain a 31-28 advantage following an 80-yard receiving touchdown from Attaway to Ward. The throw and catch was the longest of each individual’s career and was the ninth-longest play in school history.
The Panthers added one more scoring drive right before halftime on another touchdown pass from Lovelocke to Patrick Grant with just 11 seconds remaining, recapturing a 35-31 lead going into halftime.
PV outscored SFA 14-3 in the third quarter on two more rushing touchdowns from Lovelocke while SFA’s lone points in the quarter came on a 30-yard field goal from
Jordan Wiggs.
Trailing 49-34 with just six minutes to play, the ‘Jacks began their comeback beginning with a 76-yard touchdown pass from Attaway to Thomas to make the score 49-41. The ‘Jacks defense then came up with a key stop to get the ball back at their own 28-yard line with just under four minutes to play. However, a
Fred Ford fumble gave the Panthers the ball back in prime scoring position.
PV took advantage of the miscue just two plays later on a 41-yard scoring scamper from Courtney Brown to extend the lead to 56-41. SFA bounced right back and drove the length of the field, capping an 8-play 67-yard drive with an Attaway touchdown pass to Brooks to make the score 56-48.
Following a Panthers punt with just 1:12 remaining, SFA positioned themselves to possibly tie the game but an Attaway pass intended for Boyd on fourth and 13 with three seconds remaining sailed out of the back of the end zone as time expired.
The ‘Jacks will now have their bye week before returning back to action Oct. 12 to begin SLC play at Southeastern Louisiana. SFA will next be back at home on Oct. 19 against Nicholls State on homecoming.
Final Stats
COURTESY STEPHEN F. AUSTIN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
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