From

Staff Reports

ITTA BENA &8212; The Alcorn State Braves (4-4, 3-3 SWAC) were unable to overcome an early 14-0 deficit and saw their SWAC East Division championship hosts take a major hit Saturday afternoon in a 28-25 loss at Mississippi Valley State (6-4, 5-3).

The Braves racked up 437 yards of total offense in the loss &8212; outgaining the Delta Devils by nearly 100 yards &8212; but fell short.

Delta Devil quarterback Aries Nelson stole the show, rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns and throwing for 224 yards and two more scores in the win.

Mississippi Valley State struck first with a 66-yard pass from Nelson to Clarence Cotton only 46 seconds into the game. Nelson scored later in the quarter on a 10-yard run to build a 14-0 lead.

The Braves pulled to within 14-10 in the second quarter after a Jonathan Williams field goal and a 36-yard pass from Chris Walker to Emmanuel Arceneux, but Nelson struck again with an eight-yard pass to Tyrone Timmons with 1:55 to go in the half.

The Braves pulled to within two points with a 70-yard pass from Walker to Charlie Spiller late in the fourth quarter, but a 35-yard run by Nelson put the game away.

Spiller caught five passes for 144 yards, and Walker was 17-of-35 passing for 299 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Alcorn will visit Alabama A&M next week.