Mississippi football roundup: Alcorn and JSU notch SWAC wins; Belhaven takes first loss
Published 9:54 pm Saturday, October 28, 2023
- Alcorn State running back Jarveon Howard (0) fights his way through the Mississippi Valley State defense during Saturday's game in Lorman. Howard rushed for 97 yards and one touchdown as the Braves won 24-3. (Alcorn State Athletics)
LORMAN — Alcorn State used a strong running game and an even more powerful defense to keep its place atop the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings secure.
Jacorian Sewell raced 62 yards for a first-quarter touchdown and Jarveon Howard added a 30-yard scoring run in the fourth to spark Alcorn to a 24-3 win over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday.
The Braves held the Delta Devils (1-7, 1-4 SWAC) to 163 yards of offense and 13 first downs, three via penalty.
Howard had 13 carries for 97 yards and Sewell had 11 for 92 yards. Aaron Allen was 17-of-25 passing for 171 yards with an interception, and added 25 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Ty’Jarian Williams was 18-of-26 passing for 65 yards and threw an interception for Valley, and DePhabian Fant had 62 rushing yards on seven carries.
Alcorn State (4-1, 5-3 SWAC) entered the game in a three-way tie for first place in the SWAC West Division with Prairie View A&M and Southern University.
Southern beat Texas Southern 23-17 on Saturday, while Prairie View was blown out 45-7 by Florida A&M. Alcorn and Southern play each other next Saturday in Lorman.
Jackson State 40, UAPB 14
Jacobian Morgan five touchdown passes — three to DJ Stevens — and Jackson State (6-3, 4-2 SWAC) cruised to a win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-7, 0-5).
Morgan, a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech who recently became JSU’s starter, was 26-of-36 passing for 373 yards. Morgan threw touchdown passes of 70 and 25 yards to Stevens in the first half, as well as a 4-yarder to Hayden Hagler as Jackson State built a 23-0 lead.
Stevens also had a 4-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter and finished with three catches — all touchdowns — for 99 yards. Fabian McCray led the Tigers with seven catches for 136 yards and one touchdown.
North Greenville 34, Mississippi College 10
Dylan Ramirez completed 16 of 20 passes for 293 yards and one touchdown, and also ran for 60 yards and a TD to lead North Greenville (4-5, 3-4 Gulf South Conference) past Mississippi College (3-5, 2-4).
Ramirez threw a 91-yard touchdown pass to Dre’ Williams late in the first quarter, and then scored on a 1-yard run to put North Greenville ahead 28-7 with 7:29 left in the second quarter.
Corey Watkins also had 156 rushing yards and a touchdown for North Greenville.
Mississippi College had 232 rushing yards, led by Marcus Williams with 123 and a TD and R.J. Wilson with 92 yards. Quarterbacks Cameron Davis and Kobe Graves, however, were a combined 3-of-17 passing for 63 yards.
Trinity University 63, Millsaps 0
Tucker Horn threw four touchdown passes, and Trinity University (7-1, 6-0 Southern Athletic Association) held Millsaps to only 79 total yards in a lopsided victory on Saturday.
Horn threw all four of his touchdown passes in the first half. Backup QB Ryan Back threw two more in the second, and Johnny Milo also had a pair of short rushing touchdowns.
Millsaps quarterbacks Gray Jennings and Zion Anders were a combined 9-of-24 for 65 yards, and were sacked six times.
Millsaps (1-8, 1-5) has allowed 59 points or more in each of its last three games.
Maryville 20, Belhaven 7, OT
Bryson Rollins passed for one touchdown and ran for another as Maryville (6-2, 3-2 USA South) handed Belhaven (7-1, 5-1) its first loss of the season.
Rollins threw a 3-yard TD pass to Steph Carter Jr. in the second quarter, and it held up as the game’s only score until late in the fourth. Belhaven’s Kolbe Blunt scored on a 4-yard run to tie it at 7 with 1:38 remaining.
The game went to overtime, and Rollins scored on a 2-yard run to put Maryville back in front, 14-7.
On Belhaven’s possession, Mike Bethea intercepted a pass from Tim Johnson and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown and a rare two-score victory in overtime.
Rollins was 20-of-37 passing for 155 yards, and carried the ball 22 times for 79 yards. He was sacked six times.
Johnson was 13-of-27 passing for 115 yards for Belhaven, and also had 33 rushing yards. Blunt rushed for 42 yards.