By T. SCOTT BOATRIGHT, Lincoln Parish Journal
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — It was a replay the Grambling State University football team didn’t want to see.
Alabama A&M scored 19 unanswered points in the second half Thursday night as the Bulldogs rallied past Grambling State 22-17 at Louis Crews Stadium.
It was hardly the first time this season the Tigers had a Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent rally in the second half to pull off a win over Grambling.
For the third time this season in conference play, Grambling saw a halftime advantage evaporate in the final 30 minutes.
The loss dropped Grambling to 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the SWAC.
Showing how frustratingly close the Tigers have been to being one of the top contenders in the league, Grambling has lost five conference games by a combined total of 19 points.
That averages to be 3.8 points per game in those five losses.
Against Alabama A&M, No. 1 quarterback Myles Crawley returned to the field for the first time in nearly two games — since he was injured early during GSU’s Oct. 26 contest at Texas Southern — and guided the Tigers to a 17-6 halftime advantage.
Grambling opened scoring with a 23-yard field goal by Reed Harradine at the 8:31 mark of the opening stanza before Alabama A&M countered with a 45-yard FG by Victor Barbosa less than two minutes later.
The Tigers regained their lead on a 30-yard scoop and score by linebacker Andrew Jones 2:54 into the second quarter before pushing the advantage to 17-3 on a 10-yard scoring strike from Crawley to JR Waters with 7:24 remaining in the second quarter.
Barbosa booted a 38-yard field goal as time expired in the half to cut Grambling’s lead to 17-6 at intermission.
The second half was all Alabama A&M.
A fumble early in the second half set up the Bulldogs at the Grambling 34-yard line, and on the next play Alabama A&M quarterback Cornelious Brown connected with Keenan Hambrick on a 34-yard touchdown pass to cut GSU’s lead to 17-14 only 1:14 into the third quarter.
Alabama A&M tied things up with 7:04 left in the stanza on a 44-yard field goal by Barbosa before moving on top 19-14 with 46 seconds left in the period after a bad snap on a fourth down at the GSU 24-yard line sailed over the punter’s head all the way back into the end zone before the Tigers pounced to hold the Bulldogs to a safety.
The Bulldogs’ final score came with 7:30 remaining in the contest on a 19-yard Barbosa field goal.
After that, GSU drove only as deep as the Alabama A&M 47-yard line before the final horn sounded.
Defensively, Jones led Grambling with 15 tackles on the night while Jamal Jordan added 11.
Crawley completed 12-of-27 passes for 169 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Grambling closes out the 2024 season when the Tigers take on Southern on Nov. 30 in the Bayou Classic at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
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