The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff scored 47 points over the second and third quarters on its way to an easy 53-15 victory Saturday night in its 2019 home opener at Simmons Bank Field in Pine Bluff.
Leading 6-0 at the end of the first quarter, UAPB (2-1) got two short Taeyler Porter scoring runs in the second quarter as well as touchdown passes from Skyler Perry and Shannon Patrick to take a commanding 34-6 halftime lead.
UAPB scored quickly on its second possession of the game when KeShawn Williams capped a 3-play, 63-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run with 11:19 remaining in the first quarter. The big play came on the initial play of the series when Perry found Harry Ballard for a 60-yard completion. The conversion attempt failed as the Golden Lions led 6-0.
UAPB used a little over four minutes for its next score, a 1-yard run by Porter on fourth down to put the Golden Lions up 13-0 with 13:47 left in the second quarter.
After a short Langston punt, UAPB cashed in on its second touchdown of the quarter in just two plays. Williams ran for 12 yards to the Langston 35 before Perry found Jeremy Brown for a 35-yard score to give the Golden Lions a 20-0 lead with 11:09 left before half.
UAPB's Kolby McNeal blocked a punt out of bounds at the Langston 39 to give the Golden Lions' prime field position for their next drive. It took them four plays for their next score, a 5-yard run by Porter who ran the ball all four plays of the series as the Golden Lions led 27-0 with 7:31 remaining in the quarter.
Langston (1-1) got a big play on the ensuing kickoff return and only had to go two plays for its first touchdown, a Tim Whitfield 4-yard run 34 seconds after UAPB's score to trim the deficit to 27-6.
The Golden Lions scored their final touchdown of the second quarter when Patrick found McNeal on a 5-yard pass to cap a 6-play, 78-yard drive with 3:31 left to give UAPB a 34-6 lead.
UAPB didn't let up after intermission, scoring on its first two possessions when Perry threw a pair of touchdown passes to Ballard between a Langston field goal to give the Golden Lions a 46-9 lead midway through the third quarter.
Omar Allen's 5-yard TD run pushed the Golden Lions' advantage to 53-9 with 6:22 left in the quarter.
Langston scored the final touchdown on RaQuan Washington's 42-yard touchdown pass to Daylon Pearson with 9:10 left in the game.
UAPB had a 434-222 edge in total offense over Langston with 324 of the Golden Lions' yards coming through the air. UAPB rushed 38 times for 110 yards (2.9 ypc), while Langston managed 90 yards on 32 attempts (2.8 ypc).
Langston won the time time of possession battle 35:05 to 24:55, and the teams each had a pair of turnovers.
Patrick and Perry combined to go 16-of-21 passing for the 324 yards through the air. Patrick completed 9 of 12 attempts for 135 yards and 1 TD, while Perry was 7 of 9 for 189 yards and 3 scores.
Porter led UAPB's ground attack with 51 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 11 attempts.
Ballard led all receivers with 147 yards on 5 catches with 2 going for touchdowns. Brown had 4 receptions for 75 yards for the Golden Lions who were coming off a 52-34 last week at Alabama A&M after opening the season with a 39-7 loss at TCU on Aug. 31.
A.C. Gillam led the UAPB defense with 8 tackles. Jaylen Thigpen and Isaac Peppers each had seven for the Golden Lions who held Langston to 3 of 15 on third-down conversions and 0 for 3 on fourth-down attempts.
Sports on 09/15/2019