GRAMBLING, La. | The Grambling State University football earned a hard-fought 31-21 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, sending the homecoming crowd of 17,135 satisfied on Saturday afternoon at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.
The victory gave GSU (4-3 overall, 1-2 SWAC) its first conference win of the season. It was also head coach Mickey Joseph’s first SWAC win as a head coach. UAPB fell to 2-5 and 1-2 in the SWAC play.
The Tigers rolled up 310 yards on total offense with 175 coming through the air and 130 coming via the run game.
GSU starting quarterback Myles Crawley was an efficient 15-of-25 for 170 yards and one touchdown. His top receiving target was Javon Robinson who caught four passes for 28 yards, but it was tight end Marquis Harris who led the receiving corps in yards with one catch for 71 yards and a TD.
Backup QB Ashton Frye also saw action, completing 3-of-5 passes for five yards.
Three GSU running backs found the end zone on Saturday, with Ke’Travion Hargrove, Tre Bradford and Dedrick Talbert all finding pay dirt. Hargrove led the Tigers with 75 yards on 10 carries.
Andrew Jones and David Jones led the Grambling State defense. Andrew Jones registered a game-high 12 total tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks. David Jones registered nine total stops, 0.5 TFLs and an interception.
Grambling State’s first touchdown of the day was set up by a blocked punt by Marquis Harris, starting the scoring drive at the UAPB 21-yard line. Bradford gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 9:00 remaining in the quarter on a 7-yard run.
Arkansas-Pine-Bluff drove 75 yards on 13 plays on the ensuing, tying the game on a 2-yard TD reception by Isaac Jaxon with 4:34 on the clock.
GSU blacked its second punt of the game in the second quarter when Ken Pierre-Charles deflected a ball that rolled out of bounds at the Tigers’ 35-yard line. Reed Harradine pushed GSU’s lead to 10-7 on a 48-yard field goal with 10:29 to go until halftime. That score would remain going into the break.
Grambling State used a 12-play, 64-yard drive on its opening drive of the third quarter to push its lead to 17-7. Hargrove scored on a 15-yard scamper into the end zone.
After UAPB cut the lead to 17-14 with 3:39 to go in the third, GSU quickly responded when Crawley connected with Harris on a 71-yard touchdown pass, stretching Grambling’s lead to 24-14 with 2:01 left in the quarter.
The Golden Lions continued to stick around, however. Arkansas-Pine Bluff made it a 24-21 game with 14:05 remaining in the game on a 12-yard TD pass from Mekhi Hagins to Kristian Gammage.
The Grambling State defense came up with the biggest stop of the game with 1:46 left. With UAPB backed up at their own 9-yard line and facing fourth and 12, David Jones batted a pass away from Golden Lions receiver Aramoni Rhone.
One play later, Dedrick Talbert sprinted into the end zone for a 9-yard score and secure the homecoming victory for the Tigers.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff tallied 332 total yards of offense with 230 of those coming through the air. Hagins led the UAPB air attack completing 27-of-41 passes with two TDs and one interception. He also added a rushing touchdown to his stat line.
The Golden Lions ran for 102 yards with Za’Marion Webber gaining 93 yards on 15 attempts.