by T. Scott Boatright
The struggles continue for Grambling State University’s offense, as well as their efforts to beat Prairie View A&M, as the Panthers topped the G-Men 24-10 Saturday at the annual Texas State Classic in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
It was Prairie View’s fourth straight win over the Tigers. The win also kept Panthers head coach Eric Dooley undefeated against Grambling, the school he served as offensive coordinator for four seasons before taking over the Prairie View program in December of 2017.
“We played a very good Prairie View A&M football team today and my hat goes out to Coach (Eric) Dooley and his staff,” said GSU coach Broderick Fobbs. “We made some mistakes that hurt us during critical points in the football game and that can’t happen. Our staff will look at the film to make those adjustments and corrections.”
Fobbs is now 4-4 against Prairie View.
Prairie View took control early and never looked back, opening the game with a 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive that culminated with a 13-yard scoring strike from Jawon Pass to Donovan White at the 9:06 mark of the opening stanza.
The Panthers added a field goal in the second quarter to push their lead to 10-0.
It looked like Grambling was building momentum late in the first half as quarterback Elijah Walker hit receiver Greg White, who made a diving catch down the right sideline deep in Panther territory to set up a two-yard scoring scamper by CJ Russell 20 seconds before intermission.
That touchdown snapped a streak of nine straight quarters for the Tigers without scoring a point. The Tigers (1-3) haven’t scored more than 16 points in a game this season and are averaging an anemic 6.5 points per contest.
But despite the late first-half score, Grambling’s offensive struggles returned after intermission as the Tigers took the opening possession of the second half but went three-and-out.
Shortly later Jaden Stewart gave Prairie View A&M a 17-7 advantage as burst up the middle on a 17-yard touchdown run with 12:16 left in the quarter.
Trying to spark the GSU offense, Fobbs called true freshman Noah Bodden off the bench in relief of Walker, but the Tigers’ offensive struggles continued.
Grambling did get a 29-yard field goal from Garrett Urban to cut the Panthers’ lead to 17-10 at the 1:14 mark of the third quarter. That field goal was set up by a GSU fumble recovery at the Panthers’ 12-yard line.
Prairie View’s final score came with just under 11 minutes remaining as Jailon Howard hauled in a 36-yard touchdown pass from Pass.
Grambling will next play its first home game of the season as the Tigers return to Eddie G. Robinson Stadium to play host to Alabama A&M (3-0), the No. 1 team in both the BOXTOROW Coaches and Media Black College Football Poll.
Photo: GSU Athletics
