Football Drops Labor Day Classic To Prairie View A&M

Box Score PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - Texas Southern dropped a 40-23 decision to archrival Prairie View A&M in the annual Labor Day Classic Saturday night.
 
TSU opened the game with a bang as Chaunzavia Lewis ran the opening kickoff for a touchdown but the score was negated due to a penalty. Despite the early setback, TSU shook off a pair of early penalties on its opening drive as Jacorey Howard scored from 25 yards out followed by Richard Garcia III's PAT for the early 7-0 lead with 12:47 left.
 
Prairie View A&M would answer with a scoring drive of its own on its opening possession to tie the contest at 7-all. TSU's next drive ended with a blocked punt which set up Prairie View A&M's next touchdown as quarterback Trazon Conley scored from 13 yards out for a 14-7 lead after the PAT.
 
TSU would answer in the second quarter as Viramontes Pippens recovered a PVAMU fumble and LaDarius Owens scored from eight yards out three plays later for a 14-all tie after the PAT. Prairie View A&M would close out the second quarter with 10 unanswered as they scored a touchdown and late field goal for a 24-14 lead.
 
Both teams traded punts to open the second half and TSU was on the verge of forcing another on PVAMU's second drive but Conley would score from 71 yards on a 3^rd-and-9 to up the lead to 31-14 following the PAT. A TSU interception would lead to PVAMU's next score as quarterback Chris Herron scored from 30 yards out with 9:20 remaining as the Panthers upped the score to 37-14.
 
With 3:35 left in the third, TSU cornerback Isaiah Hamilton picked off Herron for his second interception of the night and scored on the pick six from 48 yards. The two-point conversion was no good as TSU trailed 37-20.
 
TSU returned to the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter on Garcia III's 39-yard field goal but that would be its final score of the night as Prairie View A&M added a late field goal while relying on its defense and running game to close out the contest.
 
TSU is back in action next Saturday at North Texas for a 6:30 p.m. start.