Alcorn State fans cheered, dance and celebrated as it hosted SWAC foe Jackson State in Lorman for just the third time in a little over two decades.

Solomon Muhammad returned a blocked punt late in the third quarter for a score to put his team ahead, and running back De’Lance Turner and the defense did the rest as the Braves topped their East Division rival 35-16 for the first time in Lorman since 1994.

“Beating our arch-rival here at home on The Reservation, that means a lot to me,” first-year ASU coach Fred McNair said. “This is where I’m from. As a head coach, it’s always special.”

Muhammad’s 59-yard return came at a pivotal point late in the third quarter as Alcorn (5-5, 5-4) was struggling to sustain any consistent offense.

“I saw the ball go up, and somebody had to make a play,” Muhammad said. “I picked the ball up, and it was over with. … I had to do it for my team. I knew I wasn’t going to get caught.”

The freshman linebacker’s rumble down the sideline put the Braves ahead for good 21-16 late in the third quarter.

“(Jackson State) knew it was over after that; that changed the game,” Turner said. “They just gave up, and we started putting it down their throat.”

Alcorn finished the game on a 21-0 run, and Turner churned out 80 of his team-leading 129 yards rushing in the fourth quarter.

“This means a lot. To go out and execute the way we did, especially in the second half,” the junior running back said. “It was a big team win.”

ASU outgained JSU (3-8, 3-6) for the game 379 total yards to 308.

Alcorn quarterback Noah Johnson was just 7 of 21 for 86 yards and threw an interception, but he did gain 81 yards rushing and scored a touchdown.

The Braves leaned on Turner and the ground game to run out the final five-plus minutes of the contest. McNair said he and the rest of his coaching staff were pleased with the way the offense closed out the game.

“Being able to run the clock out without giving them the ball back was real good for us,” McNair said. “We don’t want to give the ball back. We did a good job with the 4-minute offense and doing the things it took to run the clock out.”

Not to be outdone, the Alcorn State defense provided a number of highlight plays. The Braves recorded five sacks and forced two turnovers, including a one-handed interception in the end zone from Javen Morrison.

“It was just a regular play,” Morrison said. “I just made a play. It helped us get the ball back. We’re starting to putting things together at the right time.”

Perhaps the biggest of the Braves’ takeaways came on the ensuing possession following Muhammad’s return. Alcorn defensive end Stacey Garner broke free into the JSU backfield and forced a fumble from quarterback Jarin Morkawa. Linebacker Darien Anderson scooped up the loose ball and rumbled to the JSU 33-yard line.

On the next play, Johnson bursted through the center of the Tigers defense and into the end zone, putting the Braves ahead 28-16.

“The defense played (all) out, and that’s the way they’ve been playing all year,” McNair said. “The things they’ve been doing all year in putting pressure on the quarterback … we knew they were going to throw the ball 50-plus times, and that was something we were going to take pride in (applying pressure).”

Alcorn won’t be back in action until Dec. 3 when it plays the winner of next week’s Grambling State-Southern game in the SWAC championship.

“We’ll be ready to play whoever comes out of the West,” McNair said.