By T. SCOTT BOATRIGHT, Lincoln Parish Journal
GRAMBLING — Tricks and treats.
In what was at times a seemingly Halloween-themed afternoon, Grambling State held off Bethune-Cookman 28-14 Saturday on Harris-Williams Field at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium.
GSU coach Hue Jackson admitted to having some fearful premonitions before the game started.
“I told our guys before the game that I just didn’t like our focus and exactly where we were,” Jackson said. “And it showed. When you have that feeling as a coach you try to get it turned as fast as you can and I’m glad we were able to get that done.
“The most important thing is that we won. We get to go back to practice and get better.”
Ending a two-game losing skid in its final homefield appearance of the season, GSU is now 4-4 overall and 2-2 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play and will next face Alabama State next Saturday in the Port City Classic in Mobile, Alabama.
Saturday’s wild and weird contest featured half the game’s combined score coming on defensive touchdowns with the first coming in the opening moments on arguably the most outlandish play of the game.
On the first series of the contest, Bethune-Cookman went for it on a fourth-and-one situation at its own 31-yard line.
Moore disappeared into a pile of players from both teams right near the line of scrimmage as the scrum moved back and forth with no whistle being called.
Suddenly the ball popped up into the air out of that mass of humanity. Wildcats receiver Tink Boyd snatched it and took off for the goal line, racing 52 yards to put Bethune-Cookman on top 7-0 only 1:37 into the contest.
But Grambling enjoyed a treat of its own less than two minutes later. A shotgun snap to Bethune-Cookman quarterback Tylik Bethea, making his first career start, sailed over his head into the BCU end zone.
As players from both teams scrambled into another mass trying to get to the football, Grambling ended up with the recovery that tied the contest at 7-7.
Grambling moved out on top on its next possession with a three-yard scoring scamper set up by Chance Williams set up with his own 23-yard run and a 33-yard pass from quarterback Myles Crawley to receiver Javon Robinson.
Williams broke loose on a 63-yard touchdown run that pushed GSU’s to 21-7 with only 11 seconds remaining until the second quarter.
Bethune-Cookman quickly countered as the football was stripped from Grambling running back Floyd Chalk IV with the Wildcats’ Omari Hill-Robinson scooped and score, racing 73 yards to trim the Tigers’ lead..
As the second half began, tricks delayed the start of the third quarter until play eventually began after it was determined the public address would not function for the remainder of the contest.
Those ghosts in the machine came back into play early in the fourth quarter as the scoreboard malfunctioned with 10:15 remaining, when GSU defensive back Trent Henry picked off a Bethea pass to give the ball to the Tigers at the Bethune-Cookman 40-yard line.
After another long delay to try and get the scoreboard working, Chalk broke free on a 61-yard scoring scamper with 9:09 left.
“I’m happy for our seniors to win here at home again,” said GSU coach Hue Jackson after the game. “To finish the home slate 3-1, I’m excited about that for them while I really wish we could have got to 4-0, but we didn’t, But I think all of (GSU’s seniors) contributed to this win today.”
Sundata Anderson led the Tigers defensively with 11 tackles, including a pair of sacks.
Contact Scott at tscottboatright@gmail.com