Alabama A&M rolls, continues dominance over Ark.-Pine Bluff
PINE BLUFF — It may have been homecoming for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Saturday, but Alabama A&M made itself right at home at Simmons Bank Field.
Defense kept the Bulldogs afloat early until their offense finally got in gear, blowing past the Golden Lions 45-14 in front of a huge crowd.
Running back Trevon Walters carried 12 times for 152 yards and a touchdown for Alabama A&M (5-4, 4-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference), which continued its dominance over UAPB. The Bulldogs have won 10 of the past 12 meetings with the Golden Lions, including four in a row. Alabama A&M also ruined UAPB’s homecoming festivities in 2016 with a dominant 40-7 victory, and it was every bit as overpowering this time.
Despite punting on its first four possessions, Alabama A&M finished with 618 yards of total offense. Quarterback Aqueel Glass completed 21 of 42 passes for 359 yards and had touchdowns to three different wide receivers. But it was the Bulldogs’ defense that paved the way in the rout.
After putting up nearly 500 yards in each of its past three games, UAPB (1-8, 0-5) produced just 378 yards of offense in its home finale. The Bulldogs were especially hard on UAPB running back Taeyler Porter, the SWAC’s leading rusher. Porter came in averaging 130 yards rushing per game but was held to 40 yards on 15 carries.
“My hat goes off to Coach [Connell] Maynor and those guys because he really had them prepared and ready to play,” UAPB Coach Cedric Thomas said. “Their defense flew around, made plays and didn’t allow us to get a whole lot going. But it’s what we saw on film.
“We knew they’d be tough, but they didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. The frustrating part is that we just didn’t execute. We fumbled the ball on three non-forced plays, and you just can’t do that and expect to be successful against a good football team. We just didn’t give ourselves a chance.”
Quarterback Skyler Perry was 23-of-37 passing for 232 yards with an interception for the Golden Lions, who dropped their homecoming game for the sixth consecutive season. The loss was also their seventh in a row and 15th in the past 16 games. Running back Jaimon Peterson add 64 yards rushing and scored on a 12-yard run in the fourth quarter. Wide receiver Dejuan Miller finished with six catches for 106 yards, his third consecutive game with more than 100 yards receiving.
Both defenses got off to stingy starts. The teams combined for seven punts in the game’s first eight possessions. But when Alabama A&M began finding seams in UAPB’s secondary in the second quarter, the complexion of the game changed. The Bulldogs converted two lengthy third downs during a nine-play, 80yard march that culminated in Glass’ 31-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Zabrian Moore to take a 7-0 lead.
Alabama A&M benefited from two pass interference penalties on its next drive to move to UAPB’s 11 before Golden Lions defensive back Shawn Steele intercepted Glass in the end zone.
But the Bulldogs continued to pick on UAPB’s defensive backfield and eventually extended their lead to 14-0 on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Glass to wide receiver Nathaniel Dell with 3:09 to go in the first half.
“I thought defensively, we were getting better,” Thomas said. “We got some early stops, guys were making plays and we had the field position where we wanted it. But we couldn’t execute at a high level on offense, and that put our defense in some tough situations.”
While UAPB’s offense continued to stall, Alabama A&M began to heat up. Walters scored on a 72-yard run with 11:24 to go in the third quarter to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 21-0.
UAPB’s Jamie Gillan kicked a 42-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, but Alabama A&M answered with a 10-yard scoring run from Teon Dollard to complete a three-play, 65-yard drive. Gillan booted a 38-yard field goal, but Glass countered with a 56yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Octayvious Miles on the final play of the quarter to send many of the fans scurrying for the exits.