Final Stats
MONTGOMERY—Devin Dominguez hit Nick Andrews from four yards out with 5:26 left in the game to lift Alabama State University to a 38-31 win over the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.It was Dominguez' fifth touchdown pass of the game and all five touchdown passes went to different receivers.
ASU started the game driving down to UAPB's 38 yard line before an interception on the one yard line by James Harrell to put a stop to the drive.
From there UAPB went 99 yards in eight plays with the final play being a 41-yard touchdown pass from Josh Boudreaux to Adrian Moore. UAPB led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
ASU evened the score on the first play of the second quarter when Dominguez connected on his first touchdown pass of the game, a 36-yard strike to Landon Jones.
After forcing UAPB to punt on its next possession, Quentin McKibben fielded the punt and raced up the sideline 46 yards to put the Hornets in scoring position at the Golden Lions' 22-yard line. ASU was unable to stick the ball in the end zone, but Andrew Lyons gave ASU its first lead on a 31-yard field goal.
Only two plays later, the ASU defense forced a UAPB fumble, which Kejuan Riley recovered at the UAPB 22. It only took three plays for ASU to push its lead to 17-7 after Dominguez hit Charles Payne from 16-yards out with 8:33 left in the first half.
UAPB did not stay down long as they took the ensuing drive 70 yards in 13 plays and cut the lead to 17-14 on a 14-yard run from Moore, his second score of the game.
ASU was unable to do much with its next possession and punted the ball back to UAPB where the Golden Lions marched right back down the field in nine plays. The final two yards came on Stephen Jones run to send UAPB into the locker room with a 21-17 halftime lead.
The first half was full of big plays from ASU who scored on short drives after a turnover or a long punt return, whereas the visitors racked up 309 yards of offense in holding the halftime lead.
After scoring on its final two drives of the first half, UAPB had all the momentum as it came out of halftime to receive the kickoff. But on the first offensive play of the second half, Jacques Ricekerson stepped in front of a Boudreaux pass meant for Raymond Webber and returned it 17 yards to the UAPB 18-yard line. From there ASU scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 11-yard pass to T.C. McWilliams. ASU went for a two-point conversion and UAPB was able to stop the attempt leaving ASU with a 23-21 lead.
After an exchange of punts, UAPB took over at its own eight yard line, and proceeded to drive 65 yards in 10 plays and retake the lead on a 44-yard field goal off the foot of Chris Ewald.
With the fourth quarter starting, and ASU trailing by one, the Hornets put together their best drive of the night, beginning at their own 33-yard line and traveling 67 yards in 10 plays and taking up over four minutes off the clock. The final play of the drive was a 31-yard scoring strike to Tim Clark who had broke free while Dominguez was scrambling on a fourth-and-six play. With the Hornets only leading by five, Dominguez hit Landon Jones for the two-point conversion and a 31-24 lead.
Once again, UAPB did not take long to even the score. The Golden Lions took only four plays and 1:27 off the clock to travel 75 yards. The big play was a scramble from Boudreaux for 33 yards on the first play of the drive. Boudreaux finished the drive with a 12-yard scoring pass to Webber to even the score.
ASU was held to a three-and-out on its next possession, and once again with the momentum, it looked as if UAPB would drive down the field again. But Anthony Speight's fumble was muffed by Trey Austin and recovered by Ray Heningburg at UAPB's 21-yard line with 7:33 left in the game. Three plays later Dominguez hit Andrews with what would turn out to be the game-winner, although UAPB still had some life left.
UAPB would start its final drive at its own 22-yard line and Boudreaux would lead the Golden Lions down the field by the strength of his legs. He rushed for 39 yards in the 51-yard drive as UAPB drove all the way down the ASU's 27 yard line. On a fourth-and-three play, Boudreaux found a wide open Torrence Shelton on the six yard line, but Shelton was unable to hold on to the pass allowing ASU to run out the final minute of the game to preserve its victory.
UAPB racked up 508 yards of total offense compared to only 234 yards from ASU. UAPB's Boudreaux rushed for a game-high 113 yards and was 19 of 34 passing for 242 yards and two scores.
Meanwhile, ASU's offense was able to take advantage of the short field due to turnovers and a long punt return to pull out the win. Dominguez finished the game completing 13 of his 28 pass attempts for 152 yards. He had two interceptions but also had the five touchdown passes.
Andrew Pitts was once again the rushing leader for ASU with 57 yards rushing on 12 attempts.
ASU moves to 2-0 overall and also 2-0 in the conference while UAPB falls to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference. The Hornets will take their first road trip next week, traveling to preseason favorite, Prairie View A&M for a 4 p.m. kick off.
-Hornets-
