BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY

Alabama State took advantage of six Prairie View A&M turnovers as the Panthers saw their slim SWAC Western Division Championship hopes fade away as the Hornets claimed a 35-21 victory at Blackshear Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Prairie View A&M defense came out inspired to open the first quarter as they held ASU to -15 yards rushing and only 27 yards of total offense. Offensively, the Panthers came out clicking on all cylinders as they marched 97 yards in 10 plays for their first offensive touchdown as quarterback De'Auntre Smiley threw a 10-yard strike to Deandre Cooper. Chris Barrick's PAT was good as the Panthers claimed an early 7-0 advantage.

The PV defense sacked Hornet quarterback Greg Jenkins on the first play of its second drive and came up big on second down as senior defensive back Brian Medlock picked Jenkins off and returned it 27 yards. Nine plays later, the Panthers upped their margin to 13-0 as sophomore running back Courtney Brown scored from one yard out with 6:46 remaining. Barrick's PAT sailed through the uprights as PV jumped ahead 14-0.

ASU made a quarterback change late in the first quarter and came up big as backup quarterback Daniel Duhart led the Hornets on an 80-yard scoring drive. Duhart capped off the drive as he found wide receiver T.C. McWilliams for a 13-yard strike with 10:16 left on the clock in the second quarter. Bobby Wenzig's PAT was good as the Hornets trailed 14-7.

The PV offense drove the length of the field on its next drive but suffered an untimely turnover at the ASU 6 as defensive end Jimmy Daniels recovered the big third down fumble. The Panthers forced a punt on defense but struggled to hold on to the ball once again as Smiley fumbled at the PV 15. ASU took advantage of the gift as Duhart connected with Justin Robinson for a 12-yard scoring strike with 1:36 remaining. The PAT was good as the Panthers were tied at 14-all.

Once again, PV struggled on the offensive end as ASU picked off Smiley three plays into the next drive and ASU made them pay with a 42-yard field goal from Wenzig. Once again, the turnover bug remained with the Panthers on the following drive as ASU's Kejuan Riley picked off a pass and returned it 58 yards to the PV 7 with three seconds remaining in the first half. ASU had enough time to attempt a 24-yard field goal and was successful as they claimed a 20-14 halftime lead.

Ten minutes into halftime, the weekend halftime show featuring several local high school bands was called immediately due to a lightning delay. The delay lasted nearly two hours as both teams returned to the field at 4:20 p.m.

Both teams traded punts to open the third quarter with the Panthers striking first as backup Jerry Lovelocke led the Panthers on a 15-play, 83-yard scoring drive. Lovelocke's 7-yard pass to Brown tied the game at 20-all with 1:33 left in the quarter followed by Barrick's PAT for a 21-20 advantage.

The PV defense forced an ASU punt to open the fourth quarter and was on the verge of another potential scoring drive as fullback Krys Watkins converted a big fake punt on 4th-and-8 at the PV 22. With the ball at the 50 yard line, the Panthers suffered an untimely penalty on the very next play coupled with a sack which moved the ball backwards to the PV 40. The Panthers tried to convert another fake punt on 4th-and-18 but came up short as ASU stopped the Panthers at their own 45.

From that point, it was all ASU as the Hornets needed only four plays to move ahead 28-21 as running back Malcolm Cyrus rushed in from 12 yards out followed by Wenzig's PAT.

Facing fourth down deep in PV territory on its own 24 on the next offensive drive, the Panthers fumbled the punt attempt which allowed ASU to recover the ball at the PV 5. ASU's Rodney Cross put the nail in the coffin with a five-yard rush for a two-touchdown advantage.

PV totaled 513 total yards (327 P, 186 R) on the afternoon compared to 310 from Alabama State. Lovelocke led the Panthers with 174 passing yards and a touchdown on 19-of-29 passing while Smiley followed with 153 yards, a touchdown pass and two interceptions on 15-of-21 passing. Sophomore running back Fred Anderson rushed for 60 yards on 15 attempts while Cooper caught six passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, linebacker Jerome Howard led the way with 12 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss while fellow linebacker Raheem Cardwell followed with 10 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss.

The Panthers are finished with playing games in the state of Texas and will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 10 in Itta Bena, Miss. at Mississippi Valley State. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Rice-Totten Stadium.