By Matt Sigler

The Natchez Democrat

LORMAN — Alcorn State rushed for a school-record 500 yards en route to a 44-10 thumping of Alabama A&M, and right on to its second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division championship.

Lenorris Footman, Darryan Ragsdale and Marquis Warford each ran for more than 100 yards, and Warford also caught a 30-yard touchdown pass for Alcorn (7-3, 6-2 SWAC), which earned the right to play Grambling State in the conference championship game Dec. 5 in Houston.

“It is a surreal moment,” Alcorn State coach Jay Hopson said. “I think about all these seniors with it being senior day and happening to be a SWAC East championship game. I just think about what all these young men went through and the journey to get to this point, it is special. It was a fun day of football.”

Alcorn State took control of the game early and never gave Alabama A&M (2-8, 2-6) a chance to fight back.

Footman, starting his third consecutive game in place of the injured John Gibbs, Jr., threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Warford for the game’s first score midway through the first quarter.

It was the first of three touchdowns on the day for Warford, a wide receiver who did the rest of his damage via the running game.

Warford pushed the lead to 14-0 in the second quarter on a 35-yard touchdown run and added a 67-yard TD run on the opening drive of the second half. He finished with 118 rushing yards on four carries.

“It was the same thing I saw every day in practice,” Warford said. “The scout team gave us the best look possible, and it was the same look we got in the game.”

After an Alabama A&M field goal, Ragsdale took off on a 75-yard touchdown run to put the Braves up three scores at 20-3.

“I just saw green grass and hit it,” Ragsdale said.

Ragsdale and Footman had 125 and 142 rushing yards, respectively. Footman was just 2-of-12 passing for 51 yards, but the Braves averaged 10.4 yards per carry running the ball. Former Vicksburg High star Tavares Johnson, Jr., seeing his first action of the season, carried six times for 47 yards.

“It was a pretty good day today,” Hopson said. “All the running backs ran hard and Lenorris had some nice runs. It was a solid team effort. The offensive line blocked well and it was just a great job all around.”

While the Alcorn offense was busy scoring, the defense wasn’t slacking. The Braves limited Alabama A&M to just 156 yards. While Alcorn rushed 48 times for 500 yards, Alabama A&M rushed 49 times for 138.

The Braves also had eight sacks, and the Bulldogs’ quarterbacks completed 3 of 19 passes for 18 yards.

“I thought we rushed the passer well,” Hopson said. “That is really becoming the strength of our football team. Defensively, we are young, and that was one of my biggest concerns coming into the season. I think maybe around Week 2, I realized that it may actually be a strength.”

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Alcorn State at Jackson State

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