LITTLE ROCK — It took a little more than two minutes for Arkansas Pine-Bluff to flip the momentum in Saturday’s Delta Classic 4 Literacy.
UAPB scored 28 points in a span of 2:14 and held on for a 49-42 victory over Grambling State before 26,211 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
The Golden Lions scored three times in the final 1:56 of the first half, using a roughing-the-kicker penalty, a mistake by the Grambling State punter and an interception to turn a 10-7 deficit into a 28-10 halftime lead.
UAPB then ran back the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown and a 35-10 lead early in the third quarter.
But the Golden Lions’ lead was cut to seven pointstwice in the second half. The final time came in the final minute before UAPB sealed the victory when Kevin Thornton recovered an onside kick with 31 seconds left.
UAPB (5-3, 3-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) kept its hopes alive for a Western Division championship with the victory, despite getting outgained 462-272 in total yards by Grambling State (5-4, 3-2). That included 267 rushing yards for Grambling State, which is the SWAC’s best rushing team.
Tailback Mickey Dean ran for two touchdowns and threw for another for the Golden Lions, and quarterback Josh Boudreaux completed 11 of 18 passes for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns. UAPB also scored on a 95-yard kickoff return by Mareo Howard and a 40-yard interception return by Joe Brown.
“With Boudreaux at the helm, he’s doing a lot of good things. He’s being that leader that we’ve been looking for,” UAPB Coach Monte Coleman said. “It showed today.”
It appeared UAPB would go into halftime trailing 10-7 after the Golden Lions lined up to punt with 2:23 left. As punter Kent Black got the ball off, he was hit by a Grambling State player for a personal foul. After a 17-yard completion, UAPB used trickery to score. Dean lofted an 18-yard pass into the end zone, where Raymond Webber leapt above a Grambling State defender to catch it for a touchdown and a 14-10 lead with 1:56 left.
After three quick plays, Grambling State’s Fabian Carter dropped back to punt. As he fielded the low snap, his left knee touched the ground at the 33-yard line and the play was blown dead, giving UAPB the ball. On the next play, Boudreaux hit Remo Gay in stride for a 33-yard touchdown pass and a 21-10 lead with 47 seconds left.
“We have to make explosive plays like that,” Boudreaux said.
Instead of taking a knee, Grambling State tried to retaliate. But quarterback Greg Dillon’s off-balance pass was intercepted by Brown at the 40. On the return, he dived into the end zone ahead of a Grambling State defender for a 28-10 lead with 18 seconds left.
“Any time a mistake is out there, you have to take advantage of it,” Coleman said. “The offense had a rhythm going and we were moving the chains. We just wanted to come out the second half and maintain what we were doing.
The Golden Lions did more than that.
Howard caught the secondhalf kickoff on the left side of the field at the 5, then beat everyone to the opposite side of the field as he turned the corner. No one caught him until a Grambling State defender tipped the ball out of his hands just after he crossed the goal line for a 35-10 lead.
ARK.-PINE BLUFF 49, GRAMBLING ST. 42 Grambling St. ............7 3 18 14 - 42 Ark.-Pine Bluff ...........7 21 7 14 - 49 First Quarter Gram-Donnell 45 pass from Dillon (A.Johnson kick), 14:06.
UAPB-Dean 10 run (Reyes kick), 12:13.
Second Quarter Gram-FG A.Johnson 26, 6:09.
UAPB-R.Webber 18 pass from Dean (Reyes kick), 1:56.
UAPB-Dorn 33 pass from Boudreaux (Reyes kick), :47.
UAPB-Brown 40 interception return (Reyes kick), :14.
Third Quarter UAPB-Howard 95 kickoff return (Reyes kick), 14:45.
Gram-FG A.Johnson 28, 10:49.
Gram-Walker 1 run (Maxwell pass from Dillon), 5:30.
Gram-Warren 9 pass from Dillon (A.Johnson kick), :59.
Fourth Quarter UAPB-Evans 41 pass from Boudreaux (Reyes kick), 10:41.
UAPB-Dean 22 run (Reyes kick), 8:28.
Gram-Bell 0 blocked punt return (A.Johnson kick), 4:40.
Gram-Jones 22 pass from Dillon (A.Johnson kick), :36.
Attendance-26,712.
Gram UAPB First downs ................................ 21 14 Rushes-yards ..........................47-267 33-87 Passing...................................... 195 185 Comp-Att-Int ..........................17-30-2 12-19-1 Return Yards .............................. 38 40 Punts-Avg. ..............................5-26.0 6-33.7 Fumbles-Lost .............................1-1 1-1 Penalties-Yards ........................11-89 4-35 Time of Possession .................30:10 29:50 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Grambling St., Walker 11-101, Dillon 18-97, Warren 16-85, Thompson 1-(minus 3), F.Carter 1-(minus 13). Ark.-Pine Bluff, Dean 20-78, Boudreaux 10-8, Eugene 3-1.
PASSING-Grambling St., Dillon 17-30-2-195. Ark.-Pine Bluff, Boudreaux 11-18-1-167, Dean 1-1-0-18.
RECEIVING-Grambling St., Warren 5-35, Batiste 2-19, Va.Phillips 2-19, Spivey 2-2, Donnell 1-45, Jones 1-22, Cheek 1-20, Allen 1-16, Pippen 1-12, Thompson 1-5. Ark.-Pine Bluff, R.Webber 4-33, Dorn 3-69, Evans 3-55, Eckwood 2-28.
Sports, Pages 25 on 11/08/2009