THE HILL | Cornelious Brown IV threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns as the Alabama A&M University football team gave head coach
Connell Maynor his 100
th career victory on Saturday with a 49-7 win in the 14
th Annual Louis Crews Classic against Kentucky State at Louis Crews Stadium.
"I'm just happy for the players," Maynor said. "One hundred wins means I am probably getting old, been coaching a long time. But I had a lot of great coaches and a lot of great football players to make it to 100 wins. It ain't just me. It's always the staff and the players."
Alabama A&M (1-1) forced Kentucky State to punt on its first possession and the Bulldogs went to work, scoring on its opening drove, going 59 yards in 12 plays and taking just over four minutes off the clock.
AAMU used a balanced offense in scoring its first touchdown of the season, mixing in four passes and eight rushes as
Xavier Lankford scored on a 1-yard keeper to camp the drive and give the Bulldogs a quick 7-0 lead with 9:38 remaining.
It didn't take long for the second Bulldog score of the night as AAMU started at the KSU 43 after a Thorobred punt.
Cornelious Brown IV found a wide-open
Duke Miller down the left sideline for a 38-yard score as the Bulldogs pushed the lead to 14-0 with 6:36 left.
Alabama A&M took advantage of a Kentucky State turnover and marched 60 yards in six plays as
Jacolby Hewitt caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Brown as the Bulldogs increased their advantage to 21-0 just five seconds into the second quarter.
After stopping the Thorobreds on fourth down, the Bulldogs went right back to work, taking more than four minutes off the clock as
Barry White caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from
Aveon Smith to complete the 72-yard drive as Alabama A&M stretched its lead to 28-0 with exactly two minutes left in the half.
The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff of the second half, mixing the run and pass as Brown connected with
Ryan Morrow for an 18-yard touchdown as AAMU extended its advantage to 35-0 with 12:47 remaining.
Alabama A&M put the game out of reach midway through the third quarter as Brown threw his fourth touchdown of the night, a 16-yard pass to Miller, capping a 9-play, 89-yard drive as the Bulldogs pushed the margin to 42-0 with 8:17 left in the period.
AAMU added a Kolten Nero 4-yard touchdown run with just over 10 minutes to play, extending the margin to 49-0.
Kentucky State (0-2) got into the scoring column midway through the final period as Jaun Gainious found Jaden Hale for eight yards as the Thorobreds trailed, 49-7, with 7:15 remaining.
CHECKING THE BOX SCORE
- Alabama A&M finished with 659 total yards of offense, including 393 through the air
- The Bulldogs registered 30 first downs
- AAMU held Kentucky State to just 38 yards on the ground
- Cornelious Brown IV went 19 of 26 passing for 278 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception
- Aveon Smith went 7 of 8 passing for 83 yards and one score
- Donovan Eaglin rushed 13 times for 102 yards, averaging 7.8 yards per carry
- Duke Miller was targeted nine times, catching eight passes for a game-high 132 yards and two touchdowns
- Cortez Andrews registered 11 total tackles, including five solo tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss
- Jordan Milton added nine tackles and recovered a fumble
- Kentucky State finished with 189 total yards of offense,
- The Thorobreds recorded 15 first downs
- Jaun Gainious went 16 of 28 passing for 144 yards, with one touchdown and one interception
- Jaylen Middleton carried the ball five times for 21 yards
- Kale Anderson caught six passes for 74 yards
- Trevon Pope finished with 11 total tackles, including one pass breakup
NEWS & NOTES
- Alabama A&M and Kentucky State met for the sixth time
- With the win, the Bulldogs evened the all-time series at 3-3
- This was the first matchup between the two teams in the Louis Crews Classic
- AAMU head coach Connell Maynor picked up his 100th career win
- Alabama A&M played all five quarterbacks – Cornelious Brown IV (started), Xavier Lankford, Aveon Smith, Jamar Graham, Ashley Tucker Jr.
- AAMU quarterback Cornelious Brown IV was named the Louis Crews Classic Offensive MVP, while linebacker Cortez Andrews was selected the Defensive MVP
- AAMU improved to 25-23-1 all-time in home openers
- The Bulldogs are now 5-1 against members of the SIAC in the Louis Crews Classic
- AAMU quarterbacks completed passes to 14 different receivers
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs continue their two-game homestand next Saturday as Alabama A&M plays host to Georgetown at Louis Crews Stadium. Kickoff against the Tigers is set for 6 p.m. and streamed on the SWAC Digital Network.
For complete coverage of Alabama A&M Athletics, check out the official homepage at www.aamusports.com. Remember to follow us on social media: Instagram (@aamuathletics), Facebook (aamubulldogathletics), Twitter (@_aamuathletics) and TikTok (aamuathletics).
