The Prairie View A&M Panthers five-year winning streak against rival school Texas Southern University ended with a 47-yard field goal by the Tigers’ Robert Hersh.
The Panthers enthusiastically opened up the game with 6’2 sophomore quarterback De’Auntre Smiley passing over 80 yards in the first quarter and giving the team its first touchdown and lead of the game.
The rivals battled the first quarter, but Prairie View prevailed with a 20-7 lead.
Sophomore defensive back Terrance Mitchell and junior linebacker Raheem Caldwell led in tackles throughout the whole game with eight tackles each shaking up the Tigers’ offense.
The second quarter was not as promising for the Panthers who managed to score only one touchdown with 9:50 remaining.
Senior wide receiver Deandre Cooper scored the Panthers fourth touchdown with a 13-yard pass from De’Auntre Smiley.
Throughout the rest of the game the Panthers went downhill allowing the Tigers to take the lead 38-34 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter the Panthers fought for a comeback and got relief from sophomore quarterback Jerry Lovelock who with a 5-yard run to tie the game 41 all with 1:09 remaining.
Just when the Panthers thought they had room to breathe, sophomore punter Travis Jatzula’s on-side kick put them right back on the fence, allowing TSU to get in field goal range for the winning field goal.
“In rivalry games, upsets can happen,” said Head Coach Heishma Northern. “It was a good back and forth ball game.”
TSU continues to lead the PV/TSU Labor Day Classic’s series 19-8, dating back to 1985 with the longest winning streak of 14 wins in a row. Seven out of 27 of the games were decided by three points or less.