LORMAN, Miss. - For the second consecutive week, Alcorn State's Donald Carrie saved his best for last. But Southeastern, led by a gutsy performance from freshman quarterback Martin Hankins, almost spoiled it with some late heroics of its own.
Unable to find an offensive rhythm most of the day caused by a resilient Southeastern defense, Carrie threw for a pair of touchdowns to freshman Nate Hughes in the final 7:10 and Tyrone Parsons recorded a key interception late in the game as Alcorn State erased a 17-0 deficit and defeated the Lions, 27-24, Saturday afternoon at Jack Spinks Stadium.
Carrie's game-winning toss with 2:43 remaining came one play after Corvin Johnson was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, pushing the ball back to the Southeastern 29. However, the junior from New Orleans found Hughes in the right corner of the end zone and Hughes' third touchdown grab of the game gave Alcorn State (4-5) its first lead of the day. David McConnell's PAT try went wide left, giving Southeastern an opportunity to force overtime or win the game outright.
Parsons then appeared to seal the win for the Braves when he intercepted Hankins' fourth-down attempt at the Alcorn 31 and ran it back 30 yards to the Southeastern 39, but the Lions used its timeouts and forced ASU to punt where Shane Phillips' kick went out-of-bounds at the Southeastern 5.
Southeastern (3-7), which closes out its first football season since 1985 with home games against Jacksonville (Fla.) and Prairie View, drove 50 yards downfield, keyed by a 20-yard catch by Felton Huggins and a 15-yard penalty on the Braves. Hankins would later find Jeffrey Howard for a 5-yard catch on fourth-and-3 to the ASU 45 with :01 second left, but Thomas Peed's 62-yard field goal try on the final play came up short.
"Sometimes you end up on the short end of the stick in these types of game, but despite the outcome I was extremely proud of our team's effort," Southeastern head coach Hal Mumme said. "The game came down to them (Alcorn State) converting four big pass plays, but we have to remember that they're a much better team than their record would indicate and we're still learning how to play as a team."
The Lions scored first after Josh Golding recovered a fumble by Johnson and returned it to the ASU 6. On third-and-goal at the 5, Hankins tried to find Jeffrey Howard in the end zone, but David Smith broke up the pass setting up a 22-yard field goal by former Hammond High kicker Jim Hall.
After Alcorn State was forced to punt on its next possession, the Lions drove 60 yards in four plays to take a 10-0 lead. Keylam Davis caught two passes for 30 yards on the drive before Hankins found Felton Huggins for a 30-yard strike with 9:35 left in the first quarter.
The Lions took advantage of an 8-yard punt by Phillips from the ASU 42 to take a quick 17-0 lead. Southeastern drove to the ASU 14 before Hankins lobbed a pass to the end zone that Dane Wobbema caught for his second touchdown of the season.
Carrie, who threw for a career-high 379 yards and four touchdowns in last week's 36-34 upset at then 13th-ranked Southern, tossed for 302 yards against the Lions as he went 14-for-29 in the game. Hughes caught four passes for 158 yards while Johnson had four grabs for 51. Alcorn State was limited on the ground for most of the game, as it recorded 27 yards through the first three quarters before finishing with 98 for the game.
After spotting the Lions their most points in the first quarter this season, Alcorn responded on its next possession driving 77 yards in two plays as Carrie hit Hughes on a short crossing pass and the freshman outran the Lion defense for a 73-yard strike cutting the lead to 17-7.
The Braves cut the lead to 17-14 with 9:12 left in the first half as Carrie hit freshman Charlie Spiller for a 33-yard touchdown on fourth-and-9. The touchdown was Spiller's team-tying fifth score of the season.
After driving inside the ASU 10 early in the fourth quarter, Hankins fired his third touchdown pass of the day when he hit Howard for an 8-yard strike that gave the Lions a 24-14 lead with 12:24 remaining in the game. Two series later, Alcorn cut the lead to 24-21 when Carrie found Hughes wide open for a 35-yard touchdown pass that was set up by a 30-yard punt return by Lonnie Teagle.
Hankins, who had to leave the game for one series in the third quarter after being sacked by Michael Howleit and injuring his ankle, returned after missing just one offensive possession and threw for 289 yards and three scores. The freshman, who set Mississippi Class 5A high school records for career yards and touchdowns at Hattiesburg High School, set NCAA I-AA freshman passing records for passing attempts (491) and completions (276) after going 34-for-55.
Denham Springs' Josh Taylor, who caught five passes to increase his team-leading total to 51, broke Bobby Hill's single-season record of 48 set in 1972. Howard, who caught his team-high sixth pass of the season, and Huggins each had five receptions for the Lions while Ray Perkins churned out a game-high 65 yards on 13 carries.
Southeastern Louisiana 17 0 0 7 - 24
Alcorn State 7 7 0 13 - 27
FIRST QUARTER
SLU - FG Hall 22 12:50
SLU - Huggins 30 pass from Hankins (Hall kick) 9:35
SLU - Wobbema 14 pass from Hankins (Hall kick) 5:47
ASU - Hughes 73 pass from Carrie (McConnell kick) 4:48
SECOND QUARTER
ASU - Spiller 33 pass from Carrie (McConnell kick) 9:12
FOURTH QUARTER
SLU - Howard 8 pass from Hankins (Hall kick) 12:24
ASU - Hughes 35 pass from Carrie (McConnell kick) 7:10
ASU - Hughes 29 pass from Carrie (kick failed) 2:43
A - 4,000
SLU ASU
FIRST DOWNS 25 15
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 25-75 34-98
PASSING YDS (NET) 308 302
Passes Att-Comp-Int 56-35-2 30-14-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 81-383 64-400
Fumble Returns-Yards 1-20 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 2-2 4-39
Kickoff Returns-Yards 5-80 4-88
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 2-72
Punts (Number-Avg) 6-42.5 8-36.9
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 4-40 8-107
Possession Time 34:49 25:11
RUSHING
SLU: Ray Perkins 13-65, Keylam Davis 4-23, Marcus Thompson 4-6, Martin Hankins 4-(minus 22), Victor Carter 0-3.
ASU: Andrew Burks 18-53, Robert Lester 7-25, Jeremy McCoy 2-23, Charlie Spiller 1-21, Kelvin Clark 1-3, Donald Carrie 4-(minus 27).
PASSING
SLU: Martin Hankins 34-55-2 289, Brian Sheppard 1-1-0 19.
ASU: Donald Carrie 14-29-0 302, Nate Hughes 0-1-0 0.
RECEIVING
SLU: Felton Huggins 5-102, Jeffrey Howard 5-39, Josh Taylor 5-13, Keylam Davis 4-40, Hutch Gonzales 4-40, Ray Perkins 4-3, Brooks Jordan 3-26, Dane Wobbema 2-23, Marcus Thompson 2-8, Josh Wilson 1-14.
ASU: Nate Hughes 4-158, Corvin Johnson 4-51, Kelvin Clark 3-36, Charlie Spiller 2-51, Andrew Burks 1-6.
