BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | The Alabama A&M University football team turned the ball over four times and nearly rallied from a big deficit as Alabama State won the 83rd Annual McDonald’s Magic City Classic, 27-19, in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game on Saturday at Legion Field.
“We didn’t play very well in the first half,” Alabama A&M head coach Connell Maynor said. “We just sputtered. We didn’t make plays, we didn’t line up right, we didn’t make throws, we didn’t block anybody, so I got to take the blame for that. We thought we had turned a corner, playing hard and playing smart for four quarters (second half of Jackson State and Bethune-Cookman), and then come out and play the way that we did in the first half.”
Alabama State (5-3 overall, 2-1 SWAC), which scored 13 of its 17 points off turnovers, led 17-3 at the half, but nearly let the lead slip away for an interception, along with a big third-down conversion sealed the victory and gave the Hornets their third straight victory in the series…