LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Jason Huntley returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a score and added three more touchdowns as New Mexico State held on to beat Alcorn State 52-42 on Saturday.

Huntley finished with 111 yards receiving and 43 on the ground, plus his 99-yard return. Josh Adkins was 32-of-44 passing for 396 yards and four touchdowns. Johnathan Boone had 92 yards and a receiving touchdown.

The kickoff return touchdown was the second of the season for Huntley. His 9-yard scoring run on third-and-8, along with a 60-yard receiving touchdown in the fourth quarter, provided the Aggies a 17-point cushion after the Braves had closed within 38-35 with 10:43 to go.

Alcorn trailed 35-14 at the half.

“When you fall behind like that against an FBS team, it would have been easy for us to have just folded. Though, our guys showed no signs of quitting. We executed really well in the second half and fought hard to get the deficit down like that in the fourth quarter. We just have to continue to play the way we did in the second half, and our guys were up to the challenge today,” Alcorn head coach Fred McNair said.

Johnathan Boone added 92 receiving yards and two touchdowns for the Aggies (3-7), who snapped a three-game losing streak. Leon McQuaker had 22 tackles for New Mexico State.

Noah Johnson was 26-of-37 for 316 yards passing and four scores, one to Dayall Harris who had 108 yards receiving. Johnson added 138 rushing yards on 16 carries and De’Shawn Waller 137 on 26 carries for the Braves (7-3), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

The 42 points were the most Alcorn scored against an FBS opponent since 1994, when it beat Troy 47-44. The Braves finished with 654 yards of total offense, and 338 rushing yards.

“That’s what they are capable of doing. If we would have executed in the first half the way we did in the second it would have been even higher,” McNair said. “Coach (Ryan) Stanchek and the coaches did a great job of putting the game plan together, and I’m just so proud of the way we accumulated those yards and ran the ball. We did what it took to score points.”

Jackson State 34, Prairie View A&M 28
Quitten Brown ran for two touchdowns and Jackson State held on to beat Prairie View A&M on Saturday.

Jackson State won in its first game with John Hendrick as interim head coach. Hendrick, formerly the defensive coordinator, took over after Tony Hughes was fired earlier in the week.

Jarrad Hayes threw for 150 yards and a TD for the Tigers (4-4, 3-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Jordan Johnson ran for 74 yards and a touchdown, and Brown finished with 60 yards rushing.

Jackson State scored on its first four drives, starting with a touchdown pass from Hayes to Romello Shumake. The Tigers were up 24-7 at halftime.

Prairie View’s Trazon Connley ran 72 yards for a score late in the third quarter and threw two touchdown passes in the fourth to cut the Tigers’ lead to 34-28, but the late onside kick was recovered by Jackson State.

Connley had 165 yards passing and three touchdowns for the Panthers (3-6, 2-3).

Jones, East Mississippi
win in MACJC playoffs
ELLISVILLE — Jones College used two defensive stops in the final 1:04 to beat Northwest Mississippi Community College 36-34 on Saturday and advance to the MACJC championship game.

Northwest Mississippi (8-2) scored a touchdown with 1:04 remaining to pull the Rangers to within 36-34. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Rangers recovered the onsides kick. They weren’t able to get the winning score, however.

In the other state semifinal, defending NJCAA national champion East Mississippi beat Copiah-Lincoln 31-7.
Everitt Cunningham had four sacks and East Mississippi’s defense held Co-Lin to 34 rushing yards.

Messiah deWeaver was 28-of-34 passing for 275 yards and a TD for East Mississippi. Deon McIntosh rushed for 105 yards on 22 carries, and Dontario Drummond had seven receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown.
East Mississippi (11-0) will play at Jones (9-1) in the championship game on Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.