By T. Scott Boatright
DALLAS — By the time it was over, it felt like a heavyweight slugfest that ended up in a split decision.
A late touchdown in regulation by Grambling State University pushed the game in overtime — five OT periods, actually — before Prairie View A&M was able to escape with a 36-34 win in the Tigers’ first Southwestern Athletic Conference-designated game of the season.
Heartbreaking would be an understatement. But the way the G-Men battled to push the game into overtime was undeniably thrilling.
Trailing 24-17 with 2:48 remaining, the Tigers mounted an 14-play, 82-yard drive to tie things up with 38 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
A 38-yard connection between GSU quarterback Miles Crawley and receiver Maquis Harrison on a fourth-and-18 play set the Tigers up at the Prairie View nine-yard line with 59 seconds left on the clock.
After running back Tre Bradford, who had earlier scored on a nine-yard run, was shut down for a three-yard loss on first down, the Tigers went no huddle and Crawley hit Jalen Johnson for the 12-yard scoring strike with 38 seconds remaining in regulation.
Prairie View got off three plays on the ensuing series but knelt on the ball on their final snap to send the game into overtime tied at 24-24.
Grambling got the first OT possession and scored on a 16-yard by powerback Dedrick Talbert.
But Prairie View countered with a touchdown of its own on its initial OT possession to push the game into another stanza.
The excitement was only getting started.
GSU and PV A&M traded field goals in the second overtime to push the game to yet another period knotted up at 34-34.
The NCAA Football Rulebook says the first three overtimes of a game have specific stipulations. The first period allows normal scoring, the second mandates two-point attempts after touchdowns, and from the third onward, teams must execute one-play, two-point conversions.
Grambling and Prairie View traded field goals in the second period on a pair as the game moved into a third, single possession game for each team.
Talbert and Crawley run attempts were shut down in the third and fourth overtime periods while Prairie View failed to connect a couple of pass plays, sending the contest into a fifth overtime period.
Crawley tried another QB keeper on GSU’s fifth OT period possession but couldn’t reach paydirt before Prairie View’s Lamaga McDowell ended the game with a short two-point conversion plunge that gave the Panthers the 36-24 victory.
Ke’Travion Hargrove led Grambling on the ground with 61 yards on carries while Talbert added 26 yards and his score on only three carries.
Crawley connected on 29-of-48 pass attempts for 286 yards and two scores — a 23-yarder to Khristopher Simmons and the scoring strike to Johnson — while also being intercepted twice.
Javon Robinson and Julien Lewis led GSU’s receiving corps with six receptions each with Robinson totaling 48 yards and Lewis was only one yard back at 47.
Andrew Jones once again led the Tigers in tackles with 11 while David Jones added an interception for the G-Men.
GSU, now 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the SWAC West, will next play host to Alcorn State (2-3, 1-0), which defeated Mississippi Valley State on Saturday by the score of 42-21, in a contest set for a 2 p.m. start next Saturday at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.
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