GRAMBLING, La. — Martez Carter rushed for 138 yards and Devante Kincade passed for 231 yards as the Grambling State University football team picked up a 23-10 win in its 2017 home opener on Saturday against Northwestern State at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.
“Getting out of the gate really helped us tonight,” Grambling State head coach Broderick Fobbs said. “Overall I thought we improved from last week and we still need to tackle a bit better. It has good to get the win at home and in front of our home fans.”
Grambling State (1-1) wasted little time in its home opener as the Tigers marched 65 yards in just three plays on its opening drive to grab a 7-0 lead.
The Tigers got a huge 60-yard pass play from Devante Kincade on the first play from scrimmage to Martez Carter and Grambling State punched in its first score with 14:01 remaining in the opening quarter. Carter’s two-yard dive gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
The Demons (0-2) were driving for the tying score, but De’Andre Houghes forced a fumble on a sack and the ball was recovered by Johnkil Skipper at the Grambling State 25.
Grambling State set up shop on its own 25 and used a 10-play drive as Marc Orozco booted the first of his three field goals – an 18-yarder – to extend the lead to 10-0 with 5:44 left in the first quarter.
Northwestern State answered the Tigers score with an 11-play drive, capped by a J.D. Allmond 14-yard touchdown pass to Marquisian Chapman as the Demons cut the Grambling State lead to 10-7 with 14:52 left in the first half.
The Tigers quickly responded as Grambling State marched down the field with a nine-play, 75-yard drive as Kincade found a diving Darrell Clark on the left side of the endzone for the 24-yard score with 11:03 remaining in the second quarter.
Grambling State took a 17-10 lead into the half and added to the margin midway through the third quarter as Orozco booted a 35-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 20-7 advantage with 6:50 remaining.
Northwestern State got a 34-yard field goal by Austyin Fendrick, who just missed a 54-yarder in the first half, to cut the deficit to 20-10 with 14:05 left.
However, Orozco’s 26-yard field goal with 1:38 sealed the victory and gave Grambling State its first win of the season.
