The Prairie View A&M football team cruised to their second straight victory with a decisive 53-0 win over the Texas College Steers. The margin of victory was the largest since Prairie View’s (2-0) glory days back in 1955 when they destroyed another opponent.
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead when Donald Babers scampered into the end zone for a 10-yard TD run. Then Brady Faggard made it 10-0 when he connected on a 31 yard FG with 8:20 left in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Panthers started out strong by tackling Fred Dixon one yard inside the end zone for the Panther defense’s first points of the year. Later on in the quarter, Babers took a hand-off and sprinted 21 yards for the Panther TD pushing the lead to 19-0 at halftime.
In the second half of play, the Panthers created a couple more scoring opportunities and added 34 points to the already large lead. Mark Spivey linked up with Shaun Stephens for a 44 yard TD pass, Micheal Jason ran in a 4-yard TD run, Jerome Tarver plowed in for a 1-yard TD, and the defense provided the other two TDs by an interception and a fumble recovery.
The Panthers used a stingy defense only allowing 101 total yards on the day. This was the second straight game that the PVAMU defense gave up less than 115 total yards. The Panthers’ defense also created four turnovers including three interceptions and one fumble recovery. The recovery was picked up and run in by Quinton Spears while Jason Fobbs returned one of his two picks 48 yards for a TD. Chirs Adingupu snagged the other Panther interception.
Zach East led the defense with eight total tackles, Jeremiah Martin racked up five and Chris Ford also brought down four defenders. “We’re just picking it up from last year”, said East, “we want to be the number one defense in the SWAC.” Kenneth Zenon who ended the game with three tackles said, “Right now we’re really playing well and that’s all because of our unity.” The Panthers’ defense unified to produce 16 points against the Steers leading the way to their blowout victory.
The offense also seemed to gel together as they accumulated a well-balanced 371 total yards, 186 rushing and 185 passing. Jason and Tarver mirrored each other with 66 yards rushing and a score, while scoring machine Donald Babers rushed for 35 yards and two TDs on 10 carries.
Quarterback Spivey finished the game 11-of-19 for 181 yards and one TD, and Jay Bluford stepped in to complete 2-of-4 passes for 19 yards. Shaun Stephens caught three of Spivey’s passes for 73 yards and a score, Anthony Weeden pulled in three passes for 29 yards, Justin and Brandon Bell snabbed two catches, and Joe Townsend, Gabe Ediae, and Jason all grabbed one each. Justin Bell says, “We have a lot of veteran WRs and I believe we match up well against any defense.”
The Panthers will need to play well offensively and defensively, because this Saturday they travel to FCS (formerly 1-AA) adversary and Southland foe, Sam Houston State. “I feel great about the game, but I know it will be a big challenge,” said East, “We are going to go prepare for them by watching film and breaking down their tendencies.” The Panthers are looking to show college football fanatics they are here to stay with a big time victory over a very capable opponent. The Panthers will be studying all week to get set for the game that is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. in Huntsville, Texas.