GRAMBLING, La. -- Opportunity kept knocking, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff struggled to answer.
The Golden Lions went 0 for 3 on fourth downs to close out the first half, and Grambling State University opened up a 7-0 halftime lead wide open with the help of 348 rushing yards to take a 36-10 victory before a homecoming crowd of 13,647 Saturday.
Playing their second game under interim head Coach Don Treadwell, the Lions (2-7, 0-6 SWAC) lost their seventh in a row, matching their longest losing streak of last season, which they snapped against Grambling in Pine Bluff.
"A lot of times, nothing is necessarily as bad as it seems or good as it seems unless you had a chance to look at the tape as a coach," Treadwell said. "Stats speak for themselves to a degree. Our staff will continue to work as hard as we have through this chance we've been given. We have been given tremendous young men. They continue to fight every single day and until the last whistle is blown. As long as the kids show up and play like they did today, good things will happen."
Grambling (3-6, 2-4), led by former NFL coach Hue Jackson, won its second straight game following a five-game skid.
UAPB's failures to capitalize on big defensive stops continued a trend from a week earlier at Florida A&M University, when the Lions intercepted three passes and forced a fumble. Sophomore Jamarion Henderson, who returned a pick for a touchdown last weekend, picked off Julian Calvez and returned it 29 yards to the Grambling 41 with 54 seconds to go, but UAPB freshman Chancellor Edwards, who relieved starter Skyler Perry on the drive before, was sacked by Sundiata Anderson for a 9-yard loss on fourth-and-13.
"My defense just believes in everything I do," Henderson said. "We had a lot of guys go down and they just want me to step up."
Perry, making his 42nd career start, completed 23 of 40 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown, a 47-yard toss to Kenji Lewis. Edwards was 2 for 8 for 11 yards, all in the first half.
"We wanted to insert Edwards when the game was still early so he could get that experience," said Treadwell, also the Lions' offensive coordinator. "He's been there through the whole season. We lost another QB in Jalen Macon [to injury against Southern University], so Chancellor has answered the bell in terms of being positive and learning. The best way to get better is to be in the fire."
Maurice Washington, a junior transfer from the University of Nebraska, rushed for touchdowns of 75 and 56 yards in the third quarter, helping the Tigers build a 22-3 lead. Washington rushed 10 times for 201 yards, and Floyd Chalk added 13 runs for 79 yards.
Lewis' touchdown catch with 5:23 left in the period narrowed the gap to 22-10, but Grambling sealed the deal with touchdown runs of 3 by Calvez and 4 by Dedric Talbert.
The Tigers scored the only points of the first half on an 8-yard touchdown run by C.J. Russell with 6:10 left in the opening quarter. The carry closed out a 9-play, 82-yard drive that lasted 4:23.
Missed opportunities like Daemon Dawkins' drop of an over-the-shoulder catch led UAPB to punt on its first three drives. Cristofer Thompson attempted a 23-yard field goal that was blocked by Rey Estes on the Lions' fourth series.
The Lions recovered a muffed punt at the Tigers' 29, but despite seemingly being in field-goal range, they came up empty on fourth-and-7 with an incomplete Perry pass. Edwards attempted a fourth-and-3 pass from the Tigers' 33 that Grambling broke up, and Anderson's sack kept UAPB from capitalizing on Henderson's interception.
THE GAME CHANGED WHEN ...
Washington could not be stopped in the third quarter.
He ran 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage of the second half to give Grambling a 14-0 lead.
UAPB responded on its next offensive play with a 42-yard Perry pass to Dawkins down to the Grambling 30. Perry finally converted a fourth down, hitting Chrysten Cochran for 11 yards to the Tigers' 11. But a 4-yard loss by Kirstan Rogers, incomplete halfback pass and Perry incompletion led the Lions to settle for a 23-yard Thompson field goal.
Four plays into the Tigers' next march, Washington bounced out of traffic and darted 57 yards for his second score of the game.
OTHER STATS
Lewis caught 6 passes for 78 yards and Dawkins 5 passes for 77 yards for UAPB.
"Just as a collective group, never to quit in any situation, keep fighting, no matter what," Dawkins said. "If we keep on fighting, we'll get the job done."
Perry led UAPB in rushing with 34 yards on 8 carries. Kayvon Britten carried 20 times for 32 yards and caught 8 passes for 38 yards.
Joshua Reed made 14 tackles for Grambling, and Rico Dozier had 9 for UAPB.
THE GAME BALL GOES TO ...
Washington for his two long touchdown runs and 201 rushing yards.
NEXT UP ...
UAPB will play its final home game of the season against Prairie View A&M University. Game time is set for 2 p.m. at Simmons Bank Field at Golden Lion Stadium.
Grambling will visit Texas Southern University next Saturday in Houston.
"We'll just continue to work," Treadwell said. "That's the beauty of the game. We get to coach it but we don't get to play it. There's going to be times we'll see highs on both sides of the ball, and there'll be times we see lows. It's just a matter of time before good things happen as we keep going forward."
Running back Floyd Chalk of Grambling State powers for extra yardage against UAPB on Saturday in Grambling, La. (Special to The Commercial/Jamie Hooks)
Grambling State running back Maurice Washington is tackled by a UAPB player Saturday in Grambling, La. (Special to The Commercial/Jamie Hooks)