Running back Juwan Martin clutches the ball and takes off to gain yardage.
With on and off sprinkles of rain, Tiger fans watched the G-Men roll to 4-0 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in their home opener against the Alcorn State University Braves, who were also undefeated in SWAC.
A rainy day could not stop the Tigers from scoring two touchdowns right off the bat against the Braves in the first quarter.
“I really don’t think the weather had much to do with the game because we were in the same weather,” said head coach Broderick Fobbs. “I thought it was a hard fought contest. I thought our playing really helped us tonight.”
The Tigers pretty much dominated the first half, leaving Alcorn scoreless until about 1:30 from halftime.
The Braves were on the 5-yard line and still struggling to score due to the Tigers’ tough defense. After a failure to convert on third down, the Braves lined up their field goal unit only to fake the attempt and score a touchdown.
“I thought that really helped our confidence,” said
Fobbs. “I could hear them (Tiger football team) saying ‘Well, that’s the way they got to score.’ It made us feel a little bit better about what we were doing.”
The score was 21-7 by halftime.
The Tigers began the sec- ond half just as fast as they started the first. After seven first downs, eight plays and
1:56 of possession, quarterback Johnathan Williams rushed two yards into the end zone.
Alcorn came storming back in the fourth quarter, scoring two unanswered touchdowns.
“They battled back in the end, and I knew at some point they would,” said Fobbs.
The Tigers admit they
could have done better defen- sively towards, the end of the game.
“We could have finished a little stronger, but Alcorn is a great ball club,” said defensive back Tyree Hollins.
But the defense is what held on to the win. The Braves had 30 seconds to send the game into overtime but failed as the game clock expired. The Tigers won 28- 21.
Coach Fobbs thinks that this win has sent a mes- sage through the SWAC that Grambling has a chance.
“Like I’ve said all along, I thought we had some talent, but talent is not what it all takes in order to win a championship."
“You have to put it together, you have to play with passion, you have to play hard and you have to execute,” said Fobbs. “We have a lot more to go. There’s a lot more on our plate. We have to make sure we take it one step at a time.”
The next step for the Tigers will be the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff Lions in the Grambling Homecoming game event. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.