TALLAHASSEE, Fla. | The Alabama A&M University football team came up just a bit short in the season finale, falling 28-20, to Florida A&M in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game on Friday night at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Florida A&M (7-5 overall, 5-3 SWAC) got the ball to begin the game and needed just 32 seconds to score as Thad Franklin Jr. scored on a 25-yard touchdown up the middle with 14:28 remaining in the opening quarter.
A 41-yard punt return by
Myles Parker set up the first Bulldog points.
AAMU (6-6, 4-4) got an 8-yard touchdown pass from
Cornelious Brown IV to
Devin Herring, but the score was wiped out as the outstanding catch in the back of the endzone was incomplete. The Bulldogs settled for a 24-yard field goal by
Victor Barbosa, closing the gap to 7-3 with 10:32 left.
Back came the Rattlers, going 76 yards in 11 plays as Daniel Richardson connected with Kolby Gross for a 6-yard touchdown as FAMU extended its lead to 14-3 with 5:13 remaining.
Alabama A&M took advantage of a turnover as Barbosa booted a 39-yard field goal as the Bulldogs trailed, 14-6, with just under 14 minutes remaining in the first half.
Florida A&M capitalized off a Brown interception by going 58 yards in just three plays as Lovontai Summersett scored on a 20-yard touchdown run, extending the advantage to 21-6 with 2:55 remaining.
However, the Bulldogs put together a 13-play, 86-yard drive right before the break as Brown found
Donovan Eaglin over the middle for a 23-yard touchdown, closing the gap to 21-13 with 13 seconds left in the quarter.
Alabama A&M opened the second half with the football and pulled off a fake punt as
Austin McCready connected with
Isaiah Nwokenkwo for 14 yards. However, the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs and Florida A&M capitalized.
The Rattlers went 75 yards in five plays as Daniel Richardson found Quan Lee for a 19-yard touchdown as FAMU stretched the lead to 28-13 with 5:50 left in the third.
Alabama A&M refused to go away quietly, taking advantage of a short field and a costly pass interference penalty as
Xavier Lankford connected with
Barry White down the left sideline for an 18-yard score as the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to 28-20 with just over 14 minutes to play.
The Bulldogs were forced to punt the football with 2:35 remaining and never got the ball back as Florida A&M ran out the clock to pick up the win.
CHECKING THE BOX SCORE
- Alabama A&M finished with 336 total yards, including 261 through the air
- The Bulldogs racked up 22 first downs
- Cornelious Brown IV went 18 of 36 passing for 206 yards, with two interceptions and one touchdown
- Donovan Eaglin rushed 16 times for 70 yards
- Keenan Hambrick caught five passes for 52 yards
- Cortez Andrews registered 11 total tackles, including eight solo stops
- Florida A&M finished with 425 total yards, including 232 on the ground
- The Rattlers recorded 21 first downs
- Daniel Richardson went 19 of 26 passing for 193 yards and two scores
- Kelvin Dean carried the ball 12 times for 74 yards
- Lovontai Summersett rushed eight times for 74 yards and one touchdown
- Quan Lee caught six passes for 68 yards and one score
- Deco Wilson added 10 total tackles, with seven solo stops
NEWS & NOTES
- Alabama A&M and Florida A&M met for the 14th time
- The Rattlers improved to 12-2 all-time against the Bulldogs
- The AAMU loss snapped a three-game winning streak, including two straight on the road
- The Bulldogs were penalized a season-high 15 times for 142 yards
- Alabama A&M played two quarterbacks – Cornelious Brown IV (started) and Xavier Lankford
- Carson Vinson was named an HBCU+ National Player of the Year Finalist on Wednesday
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