HBCU Football: 3 takeaways from Alabama A&M’s domination of Alabama State
By Dante Pryor
Rivalry games are sweeter for the victor when there is a layer added to the game. For the Alabama A&M Bulldogs, winning the Magic City Classic on Saturday evening marked not only the third consecutive win for AAMU, but the victory also clinched the SWAC East for the Bulldogs.
Bulldogs quarterback Aqeel Glass started slow and then heated up and dominated the Hornets in the second half. “He’s Glass,” head coach Connell Maynor said. “He wasn’t playing his best (in the first half). Missed a couple of reads, a couple of throws, a little off, but he settled down and was the Mr. Glass that everybody knows and expects.”
Glass ended the day with 372 yards and three touchdowns on the day.
The Hornets were not so lucky. Hornets starting quarterback Ryan Nettles was knocked out of the game with an injury. Alabama State also lost three linemen in the game with Romello Tarver getting carted off the field.
“Rough day at the office,” Alabama State head coach Donald Hill-Ely said. “The first half, we were playing pretty well with them but lost our quarterback and three offensive linemen and ended up with a lot of guys playing out of possession. We just couldn’t protect going forward. Just a really tough day. Kids kept fighting but just wasn’t enough to hold those guys off.”
The Bulldogs will play Arkansas-Pine Bluff for the SWAC Championship.
Here are three takeaways from Alabama A&M’s win.