MONTGOMERY – Alabama State's football team will hit the road after playing back-to-back home games the past two weeks.  ASU will make their second trek into Texas when they face a talented Prairie View A&M team Saturday at 2 p.m. in the home team's new football home, Panther Stadium.
 
ASU (1-4/1-3 SWAC) and PVAMU (3-2/3-1 SWAC) are teams coming off games in different directions.  The Hornets won their first game of the season, a 41-21 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last week, while PVAMU is coming off a 36-16 home loss to Grambling State.
 
The Panthers were picked to be one of the teams in the SWAC Championship game by winning the SWAC's West Division.  Now PVAMU needs help from other SWAC members to move past Grambling while winning the rest of its conference outings.
 
While the Panthers may have two losses, they are still a very good team with a lot of outstanding football players.  "They (Prairie View) are operating at an all-time high," Head Coach Brian Jenkins said.  "They are doing a lot of good things."
 
The Panthers are a well-rounded offensive team averaging 28.4 points per game.  Quarterback Trey Green is the catalyst for the offense as he has passed for over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns.  He is averaging over 204 yards passing per game.
 
Green has done a good job of spreading the ball to different receivers as 14 different players have caught passes for the Panthers.  Leading the way is KhaDarel Hodge.  The team leader has 17 receptions for 255 yards and three scores.
 
PVAMU also has a solid stable of running backs led by Sta'fon McCray.  He has 219 yards rushing, but is averaging a SWAC-best 7.6 yards per carry.
 
Defensively the Panthers put a lot of pressure on the line of scrimmage.  They have 38 tackles for lost yardage and have 21 sacks.  Leading the way is Terrence Singleton with 35 total tackles.  Marquice O'Leary is right behind with 28 stops.
 
DeVohn Reed is one of the top pass rushers in the league for PVAMU.  He has six tackles behind the line of scrimmage while picking up five sacks.
 
The Hornets offense has slowly gotten better each game and senior quarterback Quinterris Toppings is a major reason why.  The Alabama native has thrown for over 700 yards in the past three games.  He has also been a threat keeping the ball and has two rushing touchdowns.
 
Khalid Thomas is also breaking out during his senior campaign.  He is second in the conference with 424 rushing yards and is averaging over 84 yards per game and has four rushing touchdowns.  He also has a receiving touchdown among his eight receptions and is leading the conference averaging 11.8 yards per punt return.
 
Willis White has been the break out receiver over the past few games and has moved into the team lead with 19 receptions for 203 yards.  Josh Davis and Nygel Lee are right behind White with 13 and 11 receptions.
 
A freshman and a senior are leading the resurgence of the Hornets defense.  Darron Johnson, a freshman from Memphis, Tenn., leads ASU's defense with 31 total stops including three behind the line of scrimmage and a sack.  Johnson has received the SWAC's Newcomer of the Week award twice already this season.
 
Senior Kourtney Berry, who missed one full game and parts of two others is playing his way back into shape and is next on the team with 24 total stops.
The game at PVAMU will be ASU's fourth road game of the season and after dropping their first three road games, a road win would not only give them some momentum heading into the second half of the season, but would also show the direction of the program
 
"Winning is winning and winning on the road against a powerhouse football club like Prairie View would really speak volumes about our football program and the direction of football program is going in," Jenkins said.
 
The opening kickoff for the home team's homecoming will be 2 p.m.  The game can be heard live across the ASU Hornet Radio Network with all the listening options found at bamastatesports.com.