Southern surges past Alcorn; Prairie View takes control of SWAC West race

By Derek Payne
The Weekly Press

BATON ROUGE, La. — Trey Holly rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns as Southern defeated Alcorn State 41-28 on Saturday, helping reshape the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s Western Division race during a six-game Week 11 slate.

Prairie View A&M edged Arkansas-Pine Bluff 13-10 to move into sole possession of first place in the West, while Alabama State defeated Jackson State 20-13 in a pivotal Eastern Division matchup. Grambling State, Alabama A&M and Florida A&M also earned conference victories.

Southern delivered one of the day’s strongest offensive performances, piling up 497 yards and controlling possession for 42 minutes, 29 seconds at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

Holly scored twice in the opening quarter, but Alcorn answered behind quarterback Jaylon Tolbert, whose three touchdown passes included an 88-yard strike to Jarvis Rush that put the Braves ahead 28-27 early in the third quarter.

Southern reclaimed the lead on Mike Franklin’s 12-yard touchdown run late in the third. Holly then capped a 20-play, 89-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring run with 1:04 remaining. The possession consumed 11:49, leaving Alcorn little opportunity to respond.

Christian Johnson passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns for Southern, while Daejawn Smith caught six passes for 105 yards. Both teams finished the day 6-5 overall and 4-3 in conference play.

Prairie View’s breakthrough came on Ethan Eddins’ 43-yard field goal as time expired, lifting the Panthers past Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Quarterback Tevin Carter scored Prairie View’s only touchdown on a 5-yard run and finished with 201 passing yards and 64 rushing yards. Eddins’ winning kick completed a 13-play, 45-yard drive.

The Panthers improved to 6-5 overall and 5-2 in SWAC play with their fourth consecutive victory. Southern’s win over Alcorn left the Jaguars, Braves and Arkansas-Pine Bluff tied behind Prairie View at 4-3 in league play.

In Montgomery, Alabama State built a 14-0 first-quarter lead and held off Jackson State’s comeback.

Aaron Frye opened the scoring with a 39-yard touchdown run. Less than a minute later, Myles Richardson recovered a loose ball in the end zone following a Jackson State fumble and an ensuing Alabama State return.

Jackson State pulled within 14-13 in the fourth quarter, but Andrew Abu-Akel answered with field goals from 47 and 40 yards. The Tigers’ final opportunity ended with an interception in the end zone with six seconds remaining.

Alabama State improved to 6-4 overall, while Jackson State fell to 7-3. Both stood at 4-3 in conference play.

Grambling State used four touchdown passes from Jacobe Robinson to defeat Bethune-Cookman 32-21 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Lantavious Murphy caught six passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns, while D’Shaun Ford rushed for 108 yards. The Tigers led 10-0 at halftime and scored 16 third-quarter points, including a safety, to create separation.

Grambling improved to 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the SWAC. Bethune-Cookman dropped to 5-6 and 3-4.

Alabama A&M delivered the day’s most decisive victory, beating Texas Southern 35-6 after scoring the game’s first 35 points.

Cornelious Brown passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns and added an 11-yard scoring run. Kolton Nero rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs improved to 8-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

David Kency Jr. supplied Texas Southern’s only touchdown on a 78-yard fourth-quarter run. The Tigers fell to 3-7 and 2-5.

Florida A&M rounded out the schedule with a 16-13 victory over Mississippi Valley State in Tallahassee, Florida. It was one of three conference games decided by seven points or fewer Saturday.

Week 11 final scores

All games were played Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026.