BOX SCORE
Prairie View A&M's postseason dreams came to an end on Saturday evening as Alabama A&M held on to a 17-15 win in front of 10,500 stunned spectators during homecoming at Blackshear Field.
The Panthers had their chances early as quarterback Jerry Lovelocke connected with Spencer Nelson for a 26-yard gain on their first drive. Nelson had a wide open path to the endzone but fell down after the catch at the AAMU 9. Unfortunately, Prairie View's red zone offensive woes came reared its head again as the drive stalled after Chris Barrick missed a 26-yard field goal.
Alabama A&M rode the legs of running back Kaderius Lacey throughout the half as he rushed for 28 yards on its third drive of the second quarter to move them into scoring position. With their backs against the wall, the Panther defense held its ground and only allowed a field goal as the Bulldogs closed out the scoring in the half with a 3-0 advantage.
After a PV punt to open the third quarter, AAMU quickly moved ahead as backup quarterback David Isabelle connected with G'Alonzo Milton on a short pass. Milton broke free and raced 68 yards for the touchdown and a 9-0 lead. AAMU placekicker Chance Wilson hit the PAT as the Bulldogs led 10-0.
The Panthers once again struggled on their next drive and was forced to punt again. Lacey and Isabelle broke off two big runs of 23 and 32 yards, respectively which moved the ball to the PV 10. Several plays later, Isabelle found Milton once again for a score as the deficit grew to 17-0 after Wilson's PAT.
Prairie View switched quarterbacks after the touchdown and the tempo picked up under senior Jonathan Troast as they moved to the AAMU side of the field in four plays. However, the drive came to an end as Troast fumbled at the AAMU 40 and the Bulldogs recovered the ball. To make matters worse, Troast suffered an injury on the play and was forced to leave the game.
Down 17-0, the Panther defense played with urgency on their next drive as they forced AAMU to punt after a three-and-out. On the ensuing possession, PV freshman running back Fred Anderson began to heat up as he rushed for a total of 34 yards and caught a 9-yard pass which moved PV towards the AAMU endzone. But once again, the Panthers failed to take advantage as the drive stalled on the Bulldog 3 with AAMU's Clarence Morris tipping a pass on fourth down.
A penalty in the endzone on AAMU's next drive led to PV scoring its first points of the game via a safety late in the third quarter. At the beginning of the fourth quarter and the offensive tempo picking up for the Panthers, PV finally found the endzone as Lovelocke capped off a 6-play, 34-yard drive with a quarterback sneak. Barrick's PAT was good as the Panthers trailed 17-9 with 10:09 remaining in the game.
AAMU was on the verge of answering PV's scoring drive as they marched all the way to the PV 28. The Panther defense held on and stopped AAMU on a 4th-and-1 which gave the ball back to the offense with 6:06 left. On the following drive, the Panthers relied on their run game and used a pair of big plays via the air to move towards the AAMU 11. PV couldn't punch the ball in on its first three downs but received a huge break on fourth down as junior wideout Deandre Cooper made a shoestring catch in the endzone which moved PV to within one score at 17-15. Unfortunately, the two-point conversion was short as the Panthers still trailed.
The defense once again held ground and forced AAMU to punt for one final chance at redemption. A penalty on Moses Ellis' punt return negated his long return and forced PV to begin the drive at its own 7. The drive never materialized following the penalty as Lovelocke misfired on his first pass before fumbling on second down which gave the ball back to AAMU.
AAMU finished with 296 total yards to PV's 238. Anderson led the Panthers with 119 rushing yards on 20 carries while Lovelocke passed for 110 yards on 9-of-21 attempts. Defensively, linebacker Raheem Cardwell and defensive tackle Ryan Love had 11 and 10 tackles, respectively while senior defensive end Adrian Hamilton logged 2.5 sacks to finish with PV's all-time season single sack record.
The loss, coupled with a win by Arkansas-Pine Bluff, drops PV out of SWAC Championship contention and concludes the season with a 5-6 mark.
