Alabama State Outlasts Southern 30-17 by Scoring Last
Southern led 14-3 early in the second quarter and 17-13 at halftime. It scored nothing after that. Alabama State scored 17 unanswered points in the second half and won 30-17.
Southern started quickly. Mike Franklin ran 29 yards for the opening touchdown, and after an Andrew Abu-Akel field goal, Christian Johnson scored from a yard out for 14-3. Jamarie Hostzclaw answered with a 15-yard run, Nathan Zimmer kicked a 33-yard field goal for Southern, and Abu-Akel hit a 33-yarder with 13 seconds left in the half to cut it to 17-13.
The second half was all Alabama State. Jareese Howard ran in from 3 yards with 5:30 left in the third for a 20-17 lead, and Andrew Body hit Randall King from 9 yards for 27-17. Abu-Akel kicked a 31-yard field goal with 9:18 left in the fourth, the last points anyone scored. He made field goals of 44, 33 and 31 yards on the day (yes, the kicker).
The yardage says tight game: Alabama State 351, Southern 337. Southern ran 39 times for 163 and threw for 174, with one interception. Alabama State threw no picks and sacked Southern twice, and that was enough to tip a coin-flip game. Alabama State starts 1-0 and Southern 0-1. Southern was ahead in the first half by as many as 11 points (14-3), and it still left with nothing to show for it. Four of the game's nine scoring plays were field goals, so it was never a track meet.
Fantasy-wise, Johnson led everyone with 21.1 points even in the loss.