Mississippi football roundup: Alcorn, JSU roll to big wins; Delta State takes first loss – The Vicksburg Post

LORMAN — After starting the season against two tough FBS opponents, Alcorn State took advantage of being the bully for once.

Quarterback Xzavier Vaughn accounted for 228 total yards — 184 passing and 44 rushing — and ran for three touchdowns as the Braves beat NAIA member Edward Waters 38-7 Saturday for their first victory of the season.

Vaughn had two of his three rushing TDs in the second half to help Alcorn (1-2) pull away. Alcorn finished with 201 rushing yards as a team, and limited Edward Waters to 101 total yards.

Alcorn, which plays in the Football Championship Subdivision, lost its first two games to Football Bowl Subdivision members UAB and Vanderbilt by a combined score of 96-3.

Jackson State 33, Southern U. 15
Jackson State scored three touchdowns in the first half to jump out to a huge lead and rolled to a victory over Southern University in its Southwestern Athletic Conference opener.

Jackson State (2-1, 1-0 SWAC) rushed for 201 yards, spread among seven players. Irv Mulligan led the way with 51 yards and a touchdown. Ahmad Miller had 35 yards and a TD, and J.D. Martin had 33 yards and a TD.

Jackson State quarterback Jacobian Morgan completed 12 of 21 passes for 153 yards, with a 30-yard touchdown to Marvin Landy early in the second quarter that helped the Tigers take a 23-0 lead.

Former Warren Central star Joshua Griffin kicked a 29-yard field goal with 36 seconds left in the second quarter for Southern’s first points.

Southern (1-2, 0-1) only had 29 rushing yards as a team, although quarterback Noah Bodden passed for 352 yards and a touchdown.

Murray State 59, Mississippi Valley State 8
Jayden Johannsen threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, and Murray State (1-2) rushed for 219 yards as a team to beat Mississippi Valley State (0-3).

Johannsen accounted for two touchdowns in the first half as Murray State took a 31-8 lead into halftime.

Ty’Jarian Williams threw a 15-yard TD pass to Kerrick Ross late in the second quarter for Valley’s only touchdown.

Wingate 21, Delta State 7
Wingate (2-0) held Delta State (2-1) to 253 yards of total offense and handed the Statesmen their first loss of the season on Saturday. Wingate had five sacks.

Brooks Bentley completed 16 of 28 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown for Wingate, while O’Brien Barnett and Noah Bell scored rushing touchdowns.

Cole Kirk had a 65-yard touchdown run to give Delta State a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but that one play accounted for nearly half of the team’s 144 rushing yards.

Texas A&M-Kingsville 27, Mississippi College 7
Roger Hagan ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns, and Texas A&M-Kingsville scored 24 unanswered points to beat Mississippi College (0-3).

Mississippi College took a 7-3 lead on Preston Godfrey’s 59-yard touchdown run with 2:42 left in the first quarter, and then did not score again.

Godfrey finished with 79 rushing yards on seven carries. Choctaws quarterback Eli Anderson was 13-of-17 passing for only 84 yards.

Trinity (Texas) 55, Belhaven 10
Seven players scored touchdowns for Trinity (Texas), and the Tigers scored on offense, defense and special teams in a rout of Belhaven (0-2).

Lamont Nickleberry scored on a 65-yard punt return and Tyson Cornett on a 24-yard interception return for Trinity (1-1). Winston Hutchison led the offense with 80 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Belhaven trailed 34-0 at halftime and got its first points on Constantine Hontzas’ 25-yard field goal midway through the third quarter. It also had a touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Brock Morris to Cooper Tullo with 3:38 left in the game.