HAMMOND - New Orleans-native Donald Carrie passed for 283 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Alcorn State forced three turnovers in the red zone in a 33-27 win Saturday night at Strawberry Stadium.
Carrie, who prepped at McMain High School, completed 19-of-33 passes and threw touchdown passes to Marcus McFarland and Johnny Washington as Alcorn State (5-3) won for the third time in its last four games.
Southeastern (5-3), in its second year after an 18-year hiatus and looking to clinch its first winning season since 1983, scored on its second possession when Martin Hankins found Jeffrey Howard on a 20-yard touchdown pass to complete a 5-play, 49-yard drive.
On its next possession, the Lions drove the ball to the Alcorn 29 before Quentin Sullivan intercepted a Hankins pass at the 13 and returned it to the Alcorn 26.
Alcorn State scored on its first three possessions of the second quarter to take a 17-7 lead as David McConnell kicked a 34-yard field goal, Jeremy McCoy scored on a 3-yard blast and Carrie found McFarland on an 11-yard strike.
Hankins, who completed 31-of-54 passes for 374 yards with three touchdowns, cut the Alcorn State lead to 17-14 when he scored on a 1-yard plunge in the final seconds of the first half.
Southeastern wide receiver Felton Huggins, who set single-season school records for receptions (63) and yards (1,008), caught a 29-yard touchdown pass - his school-record tying ninth of the season - from Hankins to put Southeastern ahead, 20-17.
But Alcorn State took the lead for good when Carrie hit Washington on a 7-yard pass that capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive.
Michael Shepherd added a 2-yard touchdown run and McConnell booted a 37-yard field goal that gave the Braves a 33-20 lead.
Southeastern's Josh Taylor caught an 11-yard pass from Hankins in the final minute, but Alcorn State recovered the onside kick to preserve the win.
Southeastern will return to action on Saturday when it travels to face Jacksonville (Fla.) University in an 11:30 a.m. C.S.T. game.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Alcorn State........ 0 17 0 16 - 33 Record: (5-3)
Southeastern La..... 7 7 6 7 - 27 Record: (5-3)
Scoring Summary:
1st Quarter
10:05 SLU - Howard 20 pass from Hankins (Hall kick)
2nd Quarter
10:51 ALCN - FG McConnell 34
05:53 ALCN - McCoy 3 run (McConnell kick)
03:07 ALCN - McFarland 11 pass from Carrie (McConnell kick)
00:12 SLU - Hankins 1 run (Hall kick)
3rd Quarter
07:32 SLU - Huggins 29 pass from Hankins (kick blocked)
4th Quarter
14:54 ALCN - Washington 7 pass from Carrie (kick failed)
13:04 ALCN - Shepherd 2 run (McConnell kick)
04:18 ALCN - FG McConnell 37
00:17 SLU - Taylor 11 pass from Hankins (Hall kick)
A - 9,137
ALCN SLU
FIRST DOWNS................... 17 25
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 37-46 30-81
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 283 389
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 33-19-0 55-32-3
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 70-329 85-470
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-34 3-25
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 4-72 4-77
Interception Returns-Yards.... 3-17 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 8-34.2 4-31.0
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards............... 7-37 8-62
Possession Time............... 32:12 27:48
RUSHING: Alcorn State - Lester 20-15; Shepherd 4-15; Spiller 1-9; Carrie 5-6; McCoy 2-5; Hughes 1-2; Clarke 1-minus 2; Team 3-minus 4. Southeastern La. - Perkins 19-98; Robinson 2-3; Davis 1-3; Hankins 8-minus 23.
PASSING: Alcorn State - Carrie 19-33-0-283. Southeastern La.- Hankins 31-54-3-374; Holbrook 1-1-0-15.
RECEIVING: Alcorn State - Hughes 4-96; Washington 4-71; Spiller 4-58; Clarke 3-21; McFarland 2-20; Williams 2-17. Southeastern La. - Huggins 6-77; Gonzales 6-53; Scates 4-70; Howard 4-47; Taylor 4-46; Perkins 3-36; Wilson 3-35; Jordan 1-24; Francis 1-1.
