By Brandon King
(Source HBCU):
It was homecoming on the Highest of Seven Hills, and Rattlers Nation was sent home happy as Florida A&M knocked over Prairie View 45-7.
A loss earlier in the day by Alabama A&M to Alabama State in the Magic City Classic clinched the Rattlers its first SWAC East title since joining the conference three seasons ago.
The Rattlers started the afternoon’s scoring, marching 80 yards in 7 plays, getting in the endzone in Terrell Jennings’ 3-yard run to put FAMU out in front 7-0.
Eric Smith intercepted a Trazon Connley that gave the ball to the Rattlers at their 2-yard line. Using big plays, a 59-yard pass to Kamari Young and a 36-yard scoring pass to Nicholas Dixon, to travel 98 yards to give the Rattlers a 14-0 advantage.
Prairie View took advantage of a 17-yard FAMU put that set up the Panthers offense at the FAMU 37-yard line. The Panthers needed four plays to score when Connley found Trejon Spiller from 21 yards out to cut the lead in half to 14-7.
The FAMU defense victimized Connley again with Jalen Ghaze’s interception, setting the Rattler offense up at the Prairie View 22-yard line with just 35 seconds left in the half. Florida A&M turned that interception into points two plays later when Jeremy Moussa hit Jeremiah Pruitte on a 4-yard pass that pushed the Rattler advantage to 21-7 right before the close of the first half.
A quick strike three-play, 78-yard drive on the opening possession of the second half put the Panthers in a 28-7 hole less than 90 seconds into the third quarter. The lead expanded to 31-7 on a 27-yard field goal.
Kelvin Dean’s 6-yard touchdown run stretched the Rattler lead to 38-7 halfway through the fourth quarter. Connley’s third interception of the afternoon was a pick-six by Tevin Griffey that concluded the rout at 45-7.
Dark Cloud defense shut down Prairie View
The Florida A&M defense made things difficult on the Prairie View offense, limiting the Panthers to just seven points and 220 yards of total offense. It was a particularly tough day for Connley, who could only complete nine of his 24 pass attempts for just 93 yards and three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. The Rattlers’ defense also sacked Connley three times and allowed the Panthers’ offense to cross midfield twice in the second half.
Florida A&M offense gets it done
Although they had two turnovers, the FAMU offense seemed to have its way with the Prairie View defense. The Florida A&M offense doubled the total output of Prairie View (453 – 220), outgaining them on the ground (181 to 127) and through the air (272 to 93). The Rattlers more than doubled the Panthers yards per play, 8.39 to 3.33.
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