GRAMBLING, La. | The Grambling State University football team got two scores from its defense as the Tigers celebrated Homecoming with a 34-20 victory over Texas Southern in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game on Saturday afternoon at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.
Grambling State (3-4 overall, 2-2 SWAC) started slow but used a 17-point third quarter to pull away from Texas Southern.
TSU capitalized on a turnover by GSU starting quarterback Noah Bodden as Andrew Body took advantage of the short field with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jyrin Johnson to grab a 6-0 lead with 10:19 remaining in the opening quarter.
“We have got to help the young kid (Bodden),” coach Broderick Fobbs said. “We have got to do more around him so he can be the type of player, gain the type of confidence that he needs to gain and that’s really what it’s about. I expect a freshman to not play well all the time, but we have to make catches and acrobatic catches for him when the ball isn’t there right in our chest.”
Grambling State answered on the very next possession with a 9-play, 75-yard drive as Donald Johnson scored on 4-yard touchdown run to pull ahead, 7-6, after the extra point, with 5:44 left in the first.
GSU extended the advantage to 10-6 after Garrett Urban 29-yard field goal as time expired as the two teams entered the half.
Grambling State’s defense scored the first of two touchdowns as Quincy Mitchell took a Body interception 75 yards to paydirt as GSU pushed the margin to 17-6 with 12:40 left in the third.
Urban’s second field, a 33-yard field, gave GSU a 20-6 lead with 6:02 remaining in the quarter.
Grambling State added the second defensive score with 3:04 left in the third as Myron Stewart recovered a fumbled and rumbled 70 yards for the touchdown as GSU extended the lead to 27-6 advantage.
“Our defense is stellar,” Fobbs said. “Coach (Everett) Todd and our defensive staff do a really good job of putting our staff in the right positions. Other than two drives, I think we played grade A defense.”
Texas Southern (2-4, 1-2) ended the scoring drought early in the fourth quarter as Javius Williams recovered a Bodden fumbled and went 44 yards for the score as TSU closed the gap to 27-13 with 14:34 remaining.
Elijah Walker gave Grambling State its final score with a 1-yard touchdown run, giving GSU a 34-13 lead with just over five minutes left.
Texas Southern added a Jeff Proctor 4-yard touchdown run with 1:59 remaining, but it wasn’t enough as Grambling State picked up the Homecoming victory.
Grambling State takes a week off before visiting Florida A&M. Kickoff against the Rattlers is set for 3 p.m. (Central) at Bragg Memorial Stadium. The last time GSU and FAMU met was in 2001, a 12-10 victory for the Tigers.
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