Jones, Randle lift Valley past Grambling, 45-21

ITTA BENA, Miss. — Garrick Jones ran for first-half touchdowns of 70 and 43 yards, and Marcus Randle threw three second-half touchdown passes to lead Mississippi Valley State to a 45-21 Southwestern Atheltic Conference victory Saturday over Grambling.

Jones replaced Randle at quarterback for the Delta Devils (2-4, 2-2 SWAC) at the start of the second quarter.

After a 20-yard completion on third-and-6 from the Mississippi Valley State 10, Jones broke free for his 70-yard touchdown to make it 10-0.

His 43-yard score came on a second-and-8 play after a 24-yard completion to Julian Stafford.

Randle was back at quarterback in the second half and found Stafford for touchdowns of 65 and 51 yards and Brandon Stansell for a 34-yarder.

Stafford also returned a kickoff 88 yards for a third-quarter score and had 162 receiving yards on seven catches.

The Delta Devils now are 5-48-2 against Grambling (0-6, 0-5).

Alcorn State 21, Alabama A&M 20: In Normal, Ala., John Gibbs threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Tavoris Doss in the third quarter and Alcorn State forced a turnover on downs on Alabama A&M’s final possession to hand the Bulldogs their first loss.

The 17-yard, Gibbs-to-Doss connection put the Braves (3-4, 3-2) up 21-17 with 5:30 left in the third quarter.

Chance Wilson kicked a 39-yard field goal to pull the Bulldogs within one point with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and they got the ball back with 4:04 left in the game.

Alabama A&M (6-1, 5-1) drove into Alcorn State territory, getting a first-and-10 at the Braves’ 41, but had a pass completion for minus-4 yards and then were sacked for minus-2 on fourth-and-15 to turn it over on downs.

The Braves then ran the final minute out, collecting the win.

Devon Francois had a 66-yard interception return for a touchdown for Alcorn State just before halftime.

Jackson State 37, Alabama State 34: In Montgomery, Ala., Ryan Deising kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired for Jackson State.

Deising, who missed an earlier field-goal attempt, kicked the game-winner for Jackson State (3-4, 3-2).

Clayton Moore passed for 269 yards and two scores and ran for 131 yards and three more touchdowns.

Moore’s touchdown runs of 32 and 6 yards gave Jackson State a 13-7 lead until Brandon Slater intercepted a Moore pass and returned it 23 yards for an Alabama State (4-3, 4-2) touchdown.

Then, Hornets’ quarterback Greg Jenkins, whose 6-yard pass to T.C. McWilliams opened the scoring, scored from the 6-yard line himself.

Moore replied with touchdown passes to Zachary Pendleton and Rico Richardson.

Isaiah Crowell’s two short fourth-quarter scores put the Hornets up 34-27.

Moore’s 3-yard touchdown tied it with 3:53 left, and Deising’s kick won it as time expired.