lorman &8212; Take it from a guy who&8217;s finally getting a chance to start as a fifth-year senior, missed most of last season with a broken ankle and is hardly ever among leaders in any kind of stat column.

Safety Brandon Brown has never quit trying, and on Saturday, neither did the Alcorn State defense.

It could have. With Mississippi Valley quarterback Aries Nelson in a zone like perhaps no other and the Delta Devils scoring nearly every possession, the Braves were in a bad situation early. But like a season that has gone from awful to championship possibilities with the flip of the switch, the Braves found a way to get it done.

They pulled off the 38-36 win over Valley. And Brown posted double figures in tackles to boot.

&8220;Coach told us all week it would be a war, and we just had to keep fighting,&8221; Brown said. &8220;Coach Thomas always preaches to us you never know. You never know when it&8217;s your last play or your last opportunity. We started off a little slow, but coach said look at it like we have two sticks &8212; rub them together until it starts a fire. And we caught fire.&8221;

The win was one of the Braves&8217; more hard-fought victories in recent seasons, and it proved again the team bears little resemblance to the one that struggled in its first five games this season. Nelson had the Devils&8217; offense clicking for a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter Saturday, but the Braves&8217; defense came up strong after that.

The Devils had three possessions that failed to net a first down, and Alcorn used that time to turn a 30-24 deficit into a 38-30 lead.

Nelson finished the game with 404 yards passing in a losing effort. It was his first 300-yard game since Week 3.

&8220;They beat us in the special teams wars, wars, and that was the difference in the ball game,&8221; Valley head coach Willie Totten said. &8220;Best performance of the year (for Nelson). He didn&8217;t even practice last week. His ankle was a little tender, and we held him out. His receivers dropped some passes, but that&8217;s football. This is a game of inches. They made the plays, and we didn&8217;t.&8221;

The Braves changed their defense in the second half and did a better job of both pass coverage and pressuring the quarterback. The Devils went almost virtually with the pass in the second half &8212; one 11-play stretch were all passes &8212; before coming up empty during the fourth quarter.

Nelson threw incomplete on third down on the first drive under pressure from Alcorn linebacker Lee Robinson, who played despite injury.

Nelson threw incomplete on third down on the following two drives. Alcorn answered the first and last drives with scores.

&8220;I thought we were going to do a much better job in the first half,&8221; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &8220;When you have a skillful quarterback, skillful receivers and a talented, veteran football team that Valley has, things happen that way. We went with a man coverage in the second half as opposed to zone coverage. That helped us out tremendously.&8221;

Even late in the game when Nelson and the Devils got back on track and threatened to send it into overtime on a touchdown with 49 seconds left, they couldn&8217;t finsish the deal.

The Braves brought pressure on Nelson in the backfield on the two-point conversion as he rolled to his right, but his pass to Tyrone Timmons went just to the right of the senior receiver while he was running to his left.

&8220;I just give credit to God,&8221; Brown said. &8220;The receiver ran a good route. You could see he was wide open, but it was just for us tonight. (Nelson) was in a zone. He was hurting us. We had to lock it up and go man to man. Coach asked us at halftime what should we do, and I said, &8216;Coach, let&8217;s lock it up.&8217;&8221;

Nelson picked apart the Braves&8217; zone coverage in the first half as the Devils had little trouble moving the ball.

They led 9-7 after the first quarter and scored on two of their three possessions in the second quarter &8212; the first an 18-yard pass from Nelson to Clifford Carter and the second 29-yard strike from Nelson to Clarence Cotton.

The Devils&8217; first drive of the fourth ended with Nelson&8217;s 20-yard scoring pass to Carter.

&8220;We get different options out of one offense,&8221; Nelson said. &8220;We just failed a little bit on a couple of plays there. The atmosphere was great. I take my hat off to my linemen. The offensive line stepped up. We came up short, but it was a great game. I can&8217;t point any fingers at anybody.&8221;

The adjustments in the second half gave the Braves not only a win but more confidence they can play some of the better offensive teams in the SWAC despite having just one starter with significant experience.

Despite giving up 404 yards passing to Nelson, the Braves sacked him seven times. Defensive end Martin Jackson had two of them.

&8220;Last year I didn&8217;t get a chance to play against him, but everyone told me how good he was,&8221; Brown said. &8220;He&8217;s one of the greatest I played against. He&8217;s real good.

&8220;I say that all the time in practice when we&8217;re running reps &8212; I think that we have something special. I really believe that. Before the game (Valley) was talking trash saying we were too small and they were going to throw on top of us. I took it personally.&8221;