PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - The Prairie View A&M football team played their annual Purple and Gold Spring Game on Thursday at Panther Stadium.

"I was pleased with the way both sides played," Head second year PVAMU coach Eric Dooley said. "They worked hard and they showed a lot of effort. There's still some minor things we need to work on. I saw a lot of penalties in the first half, but we came in the second half and cleaned things up."

The Gold team was the first to get on board in the first quarter, on a made field goal attempt from the 20 yard line by sophomore Zach Elder at the 8:32 mark, for an early 3-0 lead. Purple responded immediately with a touchdown, after red shirt junior Jalen Morton completed a pass to Tony Mullins for 20 yards. The extra point was rewarded on a good kick attempt from Elder for the 7-3 lead.

During the next Gold drive, a pass was intercepted by Jaylond Dorris for a 75 yard return and a purple touchdown. Elder's kick was good as the team extended their lead to 14-3. 

The Purple team continued their run as Morton completed a pass to Mullins for 25 yards and another touchdown at the 3:32 mark. The Purple was up 21-3, before the Gold team responded with a score from a three yard rush by Kristian Mosley to cut the deficit 21-10 with 1:12 remaining in the quarter.

Purple opened the second quarter with a touchdown, as junior Dawonya Tucker rushed for 13 yards extending their lead to 28-10 at the 14:39 mark. 

Gold answered with a 23 yard rush from Mosley for a touchdown at the 11:48 mark pushing the score to 28-17. With under two minutes left to go in the first half, the Gold team came within reach as a one yard rushing touchdown from Neiko Hollins brought the team to 28-24.

In the closing seconds of play, junior Demarcus Robinson intercepted a Gold pass and ran in for a 97 yard return. The Purple team went into the half leading 35-24.

For Purple, Morton led passing with 154 yards on 9-10 completed passes. Tucker led with 55 rushing yards, and redshirt sophomore Tristen Wallace collected 103 receiving yards.

For Gold, Hollis led passing with 158 yards on 7-11 completed passes. Mosley led with 58 rushing yards, and freshman Jailon Howard collected 97 receiving yards.

A made field goal attempt from Elder was the only score of the third quarter for either team, with the Purple going into the fourth quarter leading 38-24.

Another field goal attempt from Elder in the first drive of the fourth quarter extended the Purple team's lead to 41-24. In their second drive of the quarter, a one yard rushing touchdown by Morton pushed Purple ahead 48-30 for the team's final score of the game.   Freshman Trazon Connley responded with a 63 yard pass to Howard for the Gold team's final touchdown of the game.

After letting the clock wind down in the final minute of play, the Purple team emerged victorious as they walked away with the 48-30 win over the Gold team.


For the purple team, Morton finished the game leading in passing with 216 yards on 15-18 and two touchdowns. Tucker led in rushing with 113 yards and one touchdown. Wallace finished with 120 receiving yards.

For the gold team, Hollins finishing leading in passing with 204 yards on 11-19. Mosley led in rushing with 63 yards and two touchdowns. Todd Maxwell collected 90 receiving yards.

Morton said the matchup was fair as both teams had their share of strengths.

"I already knew it was going to be a battle between the two teams," he said. "The Gold team had the superior defense, and the Purple team had the superior offense. It was just head to head. At the end of the day, both teams did what they had to do. We both put points on the board and that's all that matters."

Dooley said now that spring ball was complete, the only thing the team had left to worry about was making sure the team finished the semester strong.

"As far as what I was looking to accomplish, I thought we did well," Dooley said. "Now we just have to finish up on the academics side of things. If we finish up strong in the classroom, I think we'll be fine."

The Panthers will return to the field for the season opener against Texas Southern University, on Saturday, August 31 in Houston, Texas.
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