PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- In a challenging season opener, Prairie View A&M University football team faced a tough defeat at Panther Stadium in front of a crowd of 13.260. The game, held on August 31, concluded with a score of 27-9 in favor of the Texas Southern Tigers Saturday night.

The Tigers improved to 1-0 on the year and 1-0 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play, while the Panthers fell to 0-1 overall and 0-1 in conference matchups.

The day promised intense action from the beginning, with Prairie View aiming to harness their varsity skills against their longstanding rivals. Despite enthusiastic support from the home crowd, the team struggled to overpower the Tigers' defense. By halftime, Prairie View was trailing with a score of 6-13. Unfortunately, the second half didn't see a turnaround in fortunes, with the final score widening to a 27-9 loss for Prairie View.

Guillermo Garcia Rodriguez was the standout for Prairie View as he contributed to the team's scoring efforts with crucial field goals

Lamagea McDowell totaled 15 yards to lead the Panthers' ground attack in the game. Connor Wisham also tacked on 15 yards on the ground.

The most prolific target for Prairie View A&M quarterbacks was Shemar Savage, who caught six passes for 105 yards. James Burns got in on the action in the passing game as well, hauling in four balls for 50 yards.

Warren Shankle paced the Prairie View A&M defensive effort, collecting one recovered fumble. .

Defensively, Prairie View A&M held up fairly well against the Texas Southern offensive attack, holding the Tigers to 346 total yards.

Prairie View A&M got on the scoreboard first and jumped out to a 3-0 lead with 12:05 left in the first quarter.Texas Southern then scored to take a 13-3 lead before the Panthers put a field goal on the board to narrow the gap and make it a 13-6 game.

Prairie View A&M narrowed Texas Southern's lead with a field goal with 10:21 remaining in the third quarter to make it 13-9. Prairie View A&M went scoreless the rest of the game while Texas Southern added 14 points to finish off the scoring.

» Texas Southern outgained Prairie View A&M 346-240 in the contest.
» Prairie View A&M had their highest scoring quarter in the third period, when they put up three points.
» Prairie View A&M converted 4 of 15 third downs while Texas Southern was successful on 6 of 15.
» Bryce Turner led the Panthers with nine tackles.
» Guillermo Garcia Rodriguez knocked through three field goals for the Panthers with a long of 47 yards.
» Prairie View A&M gave up just 0.5 yards per punt return on four attempts.
» Kj Cooper led the Tigers passing attack, completing 19 of his 29 attempts for 180 yards and one touchdown.
» Jr. Green led the Texas Southern rushing attack with 81 yards and two touchdowns.

Next week, Prairie View will seek to regroup and capture their first win of the season against Northwestern State on September 7 at Natchitoches, La. The team currently stands at a 0-1 record for the season, fully intent on making a strong comeback in their upcoming confrontations.