Alcorn State seeks season-ending victory in Celebration Bowl

Alcorn State plans to close its season with a victory over North Carolina A&T in the inaugural Celebration Bowl at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. WLOX-ABC will televise the game.

The Braves (9-3) are coming off a 49-21 victory over Grambling in the SWAC Championship Game two weeks ago.

Alcorn is the first team to win consecutive SWAC championships since Grambling from 2000 to 2002. Only nine points separate Alcorn from an unbeaten record in the SWAC, falling to Grambling (35-34) and Prairie View (40-34).

"We lost two [SWAC] games by seven total points, so that's always tough, but I'm proud of this team because we had some injuries," Braves coach Jay Hopson said at Friday's press conference.

"This is a team that had some adversity. We had injuries, lost five or six starters, and battled back. I think we're a team -- in basketball terms -- we're getting stronger toward tournament time. I'm seeing a football team that really has gotten stronger as the season wore on."

Lenorris Footman will start at quarterback for the Braves. The sophomore has 961 yards rushing and 11 TDs to go with 962 passing yards and 12 TDs since taking over for the injured John Gibbs Jr. two months ago.

Running back Darryan Ragsdale has 1,144 yards rushing and eight touchdowns for the Braves.

Alcorn is also strong defensively, allowing only eight passing touchdowns this season. Defensive back Warren Gatewood had three interceptions in the SWAC title game.

The Aggies (9-2) are led by running back Tarik Cohen, who has rushed for 1,248 yards. The junior is a two-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference offensive player of the year selection. Senior quarterback Kwashaun Quick has thrown for 512 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions in nine games, battling an Achilles injury. Quick has also rushed for 336 yards and four touchdowns.

North Carolina A&T tied Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina Central for the MEAC title, but the Aggies earned the Celebration Bowl invitation because they had the highest Sagarin rating of the three teams.

The Aggies' Khris Gardin is two yards away from breaking the FCS record for punt return yards in a season. If Gardin averages 54.7 punt return yards against Alcorn State, he also will break the NCAA return record.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Alcorn State seeks season-ending victory in Celebration Bowl ."