Alabama A&M Edge Alabama State 31-28 in the Magic City Classic, Ending the Hornets' Four-Year Run
Alabama A&M edged Alabama State 31-28 on October 31 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 85th Magic City Classic, a rivalry meeting between the state's two largest HBCU programs that was not decided until the final minutes.
Alabama A&M opened with a 12-play, 94-yard drive capped by Cornelious Brown IV's 6-yard touchdown pass to Jaylan Bean, then led 14-0 on Brown's 8-yard pass to Imari Conley. Alabama State answered on Jareese Howard's 17-yard run on fourth-and-2 in the second quarter, and the Bulldogs led 14-7 at halftime.
Howard scored three touchdowns in all. His third, set up by Daionte Hicks' big kickoff return to inside the Alabama A&M 10, made it 31-28 with 3:01 left in the fourth quarter.
Alabama State forced a punt and got the ball back at the A&M 43 with 1:37 left and two timeouts, but Aaron Frye's fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 1:10 remaining and Alabama A&M kneeled out the win. The result ended Alabama State's four-game winning streak in the Classic and gave A&M its first Classic win since fall 2021. A&M improved to 7-2 and 4-1 in the SWAC; Alabama State fell to 4-4 and 2-3 in league play. (Reporting from the Montgomery Advertiser and Birmingham Free Press)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于阿拉巴马州 Birmingham 的 Legion Field 外观，本场 Magic City Classic 在此举行（资料图）。Ken Lund 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, venue of the Magic City Classic (file photo). Photo by Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
