By T. Scott Boatright
HOUSTON — In a football conference where parity seems to dominate, one play can mean the difference between a win and a loss.
Grambling State was reminded of exactly that Saturday night in a crucial Southwestern Athletic Conference contest at Shell Energy Stadium.
A long scoring strike in the waning seconds of the first half provided the winning margin of victory as offensive woes continued for the G-Men in a 24-17 loss to Texas Southern.
The G-Men fell to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the SWAC West, putting GSU two games behind division leaders Southern and Alcorn State, which both stand at 3-1. Alcorn State defeated GSU GSU 17-12 on Oct. 12 in Grambling.
Texas Southern moved to 3-4 and 2-2.
Making matters even more frustrating for the G-Men, Grambling’s three SWAC West Division losses have come by a combined seven points.
Against Texas Southern, it didn’t help that GSU starting quarterback Myles Crawley was knocked out of the game with an early injury. After backup Ashton Frye struggled in his time calling offensive signals, Grambling coach Mickey Joseph turned to his third quarterback of the game, Deljay Bailey, who directed the GSU offense in the final three quarters of the contest.
Both defenses looked strong early. TSU took a 7-0 lead 38 seconds into the second stanza on a six-yard run by Jace Wilson while Grambling’s Reed Harradine hit a 32-yard field goal to cut Texas Southern’s advantage to 7-3 with 4:32 remaining before intermission.
But then came the dagger as TSU quarterback Jordan Davis hit Donald McKinney midstrike for a 49-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left in the second quarter that propelled the home-standing Tigers to a 14-3 lead over the G-Men at the half.
Grambling used a chunk play of its own to tighten things back up early in the third quarter as running back Ke’Travion “Bull” Hargrove powered his way to paydirt from 31 yards out to cut the Texas Southern lead to 14-10 at the 4:34 into the second half.
TSU extended its lead to 17-10 with 4:41 left in the third quarter on a 46-yard by Gustavo Romero.
The G-Men weren’t done yet, as Bailey added a game-tying score on a four-yard quarterback keeper to knot things up at 17-17 with 9:37 remaining.
But Texas Southern countered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive culminating with a two-yard plunge to paydirt by Quintrell Quinn with 4:24 left on the clock to give TSU a 24-17 lead.
Grambling failed to gain a first down on ensuing possession, allowing Texas Southern to milk out the clock and escape the win.
The G-Men were held to 256 yards of total offense while TSU chalked up 369.
Grambling gained 110 yards through the air, with Bailey leading the way with 70 yards on seven-of-12 passing.
Crawley connected on both of his early pass attempts for 12 yards while Frye completed his lone throw for four yards.
Hargrove led the G-Men on the ground with 73 yards on 13 carries while Tre Bradford added 49 rushing yards on 12 attempts.
GSU had a pair of receivers with two receptions each — Jalen Johnson for 29 yards and Nicholas Howard for 19.
The G-Men continued to struggle with penalties, losing 107 yards on seven flagged plays.
Grambling will remain on the road next weekend as the G-Men play at Bethune-Cookman (1-7, 1-3 in the SWAC East) in a game kicking off at 2 p.m. Saturday in Daytona Beach, Florida.
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