HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – In a return to the friendly confines of Louis Crews Stadium, Alabama A&M (1-0, 0-0 SWAC) thrilled a crowd of 12,300 as they came back twice in the second half and pulled out a narrow 42-41 victory over South Carolina State (0-1, 0-0 MEAC) in an NCAA Division I football game on Saturday, September 4.
 
THE STATS - ALABAMA A&M
Graduate quarterback Aqeel Glass (St. Louis, Mo.) showed why he is on more award watch lists than you can count on one hand as he went 28-of-49 for 426 yards and four touchdowns while senior running back Gary Quarles (Cottondale, Ala.) rushed 22 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns, one of them through the air. Glass also added a score on the ground.
 
On the receiving end of those passes were senior wide receiver Brian Jenkins, Jr. (Daytona Beach, Fla.) with five grabs, 116 yards and a score while junior wide receiver Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim (Miramar, Fla.) finished with seven catches for 82 yards.
 
Junior wideout Odieu Hilarie (Belle Glade, Fla.) added six catches for 70 yards and a touchdown and redshirt-senior tight end Kendric Johnson (New Market, Ala.) had 55 yards and a score on three grabs. Senior wide receiver Dee Anderson (Dallas, Texas) added a score and 37 yards to round out the offense.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, junior Trenell Troutman (Orlando, Fla.) delivered a game-sealing pick along with four tackles while sophomore defensive end Phillip Hopkins (Montgomery, Ala.) registered 1.5 sacks among five tackles, with four of those being solo and two for loss.
 
Senior cornerback Ja'Marian Green (Belle Glade, Fla.) led the way with nine tackles, eight solo, and junior safety JaBraun McNeal (Gadsden, Ala.) had seven total stops, five on his own. Fellow third-year safety Demarco Gibson (Waycross, Ga.) added a key pick and redshirt-junior Dreyvione Carter (New Market, Ala.) chipped in with a half sack.
 
THE GAME
Following a pair of fruitless drives it would be S.C. State that would capitalize on a forced turnover on the punt at the end of their first possession. Dyson Roberts sent the ball 39-yards downfield and Tyrone Hicks ripped it away from the return man to get it back at the A&M 19-yard line. Back-to-back rushes by Kendrel Flowers, the last being a 14-yard touchdown scamper, then but the visiting Bulldogs up 7-0 at the 11:14 mark.
 
Alabama A&M would then chew up 64 yards over the course of 13 plays, highlighted by a 34-yard completion on 4^th and 11 from Glass to Moore. That took it to the two-yard line where the Bulldogs would channel some more fourth down magic as Glass found the 6-6 frame of Anderson in the endzone to knot it up a 7-7 with 6:05 on the clock.
 
After forcing a three-and-out, A&M would go back to work as they marched down the field from their own 37. Glass would once again connect with Anderson, this time on a 35-yard strike on a 3^rd and 7 that brought them to the SCSU 25-yard line. A 16-yard grab by redshirt-senior tight end Kendric Johnson (New Market, Ala.) brought it to the nine before Glass found Hilaire to make it 14-7 at the 2:07 mark.
 
A 54-yard rush by Alex James then fueled a drive that took South Carolina State down to the AAMU eight before a pair of incompletions led to a 21-yard field goal from Roberts to cut it to 14-10 just 50 seconds in to the second quarter.
 
The homestanding Bulldogs would drive down to the SCSU 21 but could not convert on a 38-yard field goal attempt, giving the ball back to the visitors from Orangeburg. They would not waste the possession either as they recovered from an initial four-yard loss to go 83 yards, capped by another Flowers touchdown, this one from three yards out to pull ahead 17-14 with 6:35 left in the half.
 
Glass and A&M would answer right back with a 10-play, 79-yard drive that saw Johnson haul in a 32-yard bomb down to the S.C. State 13. That setup a four-yard touchdown run by Quarles three plays later to make it 21-17 at the 1:58 mark.
 
The teams would then exchange turnovers as Gibson picked off Corey Fields, Jr. at the AAMU 23 only to see Zafir Kelly snuff out the Bulldog's drive with a forced and recovered fumble on the second play of the ensuing drive. From there, Fields connected on a 46-yard strike to Shaquan Davis to retake the lead at 24-21 with just 24 seconds left in the half, a margin they would take to the break.
 
S.C. State would waste no time at the start of the third as Rakim White ran the kickoff back 85 yards to the opposing eight yard line, setting up another TD plunge from Flowers to extend to a 31-21 advantage just 19 seconds in. It would be more than nine minutes before the score would change again and this time it would be in A&M's favor as they covered 86 yards in eight plays and a span of 2:43. That would be a drive capped off by a seven-yard grab in the endzone by Johnson.
 
That drive narrowed the gap to 31-28 and the Bulldogs decided they wanted more right then as Lendvay delivered on an onside kick to maintain possession. It would not go to waste as Glass connected with Hilaire for 18 yards before finding senior wide receiver Brian Jenkins, Jr. (Daytona Beach, Fla.) for 24 yards to take back the lead at 35-31 with 3:53 to go in the third.
 
Fields would then deliver again on S.C. State's next drive, this time with his legs as he broke free for a 54-yard touchdown to flip the script and make it 38-35 with just under two minutes on the clock. They would then add a 21-yard field goal to cap a 10-play, 40-yard drive and extend to a 41-35 lead by the 8:24 mark.
 
After surpassing 300-yards for the game and hitting three passes for better than 10 yards on the next drive, Glass would get it done with his legs as he took it himself from one yard out to catapult the Bulldogs to a narrow 42-41 margin at the 6:30 mark.
 
Neither team would gain any traction over the next four minutes until S.C. State put together 10 plays over a span of 1:53 only to see a Fields pass land in the arms of Troutman with 17 seconds left, sealing the come-from-behind one point victory for Alabama A&M.
 
THE STATS – SOUTH CAROLINA STATE
Fields led the way for the Bulldogs with 213 yards passing behind a 14-of-28 effort that saw two of those incompletions land in the hands of A&M defenders. In addition to his one touchdown through the air, he also picked up one on the ground behind 89 yards on nine carries.
 
The true force out of the backfield, however, was Flowers with three TDs and 80 yards on 14 attempts. He was joined by James with 73 yards, 54 of which came on one play. Davis delivered for the wide receiver corps with five grabs, 140 yards and a score to wrap up the top offensive performers.
 
Chad Gilchrist and BJ Davis led the defense with 10 tackles apiece while Brandon Tucker was a force with six tackles, more than half of them for a loss. Of those, he registered three on his own. Naejuan Barber notched a sack and a tackle for loss to close things out.
 
UP NEXT
After their long-awaited return home, the Bulldogs will now be off until making the trip to Daytona Beach, Florida to take on Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) newcomer Bethune-Cookman on Thursday, September 16. That game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. (EST) kickoff and will air live on ESPNU.
 
NOTES
The game was the first at Louis Crews Stadium for Alabama A&M in 651 days, dating back to a 30-13 victory over Mississippi Valley State on November 23, 2019.
 
FULL GAME VIDEO