MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five different players reached the end zone as Tennessee State beat UAPB 41-28 on Saturday night inside Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

The victory improved Tennessee State's record to 2-1 on the season while the Golden Lions fell to 1-2.

Draylen Ellis — Southern Heritage Classic MVP — led Tennessee State's passing attack with 228 yards through the air, tossing three touchdowns without throwing an interception.

Cj Evans totaled 63 yards to lead the Tigers' ground attack and added one touchdown in the game, picking up 7 yards per carry along the way. Jaden McGill also tacked on 63 yards on the ground, picking up 7.9 yards per carry.

Bryant Williams pulled in five catches for 88 yards.

Keandre Booker showed out for the Tennessee State defense, collecting five tackles, 3.0 TFL, and three sacks. Brandon Wilson added one recovered fumble and Sanders Ellis had five tackles, 2.5 TFL, and 1.5 sacks in the win.

Tennessee State converted on 57.1 percent of third-down attempts on the day.

Defensively, Tennessee State held up fairly well against the UAPB offensive attack, holding the Golden Lions to 329 total yards. The Tigers defense lived in UAPB's backfield all game, collecting seven sacks and 11 total tackles for loss.

How It Happened

UAPB opened up an early 7-0 lead, but Tennessee State responded with 8:15 left in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 7-3.The Tigers then took the lead on a three-yard rushing touchdown from , making the score 10-7.

Tennessee State then added a touchdown with 12:29 remaining in the second quarter to make it a 17-7 lead.The Tigers continued to add to their advantage after UAPB narrowed the gap to 17-14, scoring again to go on top 24-14.

Tennessee State continued to expand its lead, scoring again with 1:39 remaining in the second quarter to go on top 31-14.The Tigers kept scoring, tacking on a touchdown to extend their advantage to 38-14.

Tennessee State held onto their lead despite allowing 14 Golden Lions points before scoring for a final time with 7:46 remaining in the fourth quarter, bringing their lead to 41-28. Neither team scored again in the game.

Game Notes
» Tennessee State outgained UAPB 424-329, including a 196-53 advantage on the ground.|
» Tennessee State had their highest scoring quarter in the second period, when they put up 21 points.
» Tennessee State converted 8 of 14 third downs while UAPB was successful on 5 of 16.
» Tennessee State scored three second-quarter touchdowns.
» The Tigers didn't allow a sack in the contest.
» The Tigers totaled 11 tackles for loss and added seven sacks.
» Tennessee State won the time of possession battle 31:37 to 25:25.
» Mekhi Hagens led the Golden Lions passing attack, completing 15 of his 31 attempts for 276 yards and three touchdowns.
» JaVonnie Gibson was UAPB's leading receiver with 149 yards and one touchdown.

Up Next
» TSU opens Big South-OVC next Saturday at Tennessee Tech at 1:30 p.m.