LORMAN, Miss. — For 20 minutes,
Miles was locked up with Alcorn State play for play. The Golden Bears looked like a team that might be able to pull off the upset against the Division I Braves.
From there, things unraveled quickly and Alcorn State took complete control of the game in the second quarter en route to a 56-7 win over Miles Saturday night in the Golden Bears' first visit to Spinks-Casem Stadium since 2017. The Braves rolled up more than 400 yards in total offense and got some help from several Golden Bears miscues, especially on special teams.
The Golden Bears (0-1) had a punt blocked and missed two field goals, including one that was blocked and returned 77 yards for a score in the second quarter. A fumbled kickoff return after the scoop and score led directly to another score. That sequence erased all the good feelings of the first quarter that saw Miles move the ball up and down the field, which concluded with a 61-yard touchdown pass from
Brinley Vandiver to
Glen Williams that knotted the score at 7 on the final play of the period.
But the score swelled to 35-7 at the half and things did not get much better from there. The Golden Bears were unable to get much traction offensively in the second half as the Braves ran up the score and ran out the clock.
Vandiver was 15-of-25 for 174 yards and a touchdown, Wiliams had three catches for 63 yards and
Jaiden Jones added five receptions for 54 yards. The defense was led by
Gary Byers (team-high nine tackles),
Antonio White, Jr. (six tackles) and
Kingston Lowe (six tackles, sack).
The Golden Bears are back in action on Sept. 5 when they travel to face Alabama A&M in the Louis Crews Classic. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and eight women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.