The Kentucky State Thorobreds’ chances of appearing in the SIAC championship games remain alive for another week, following a 43-28 win over the Clark Atlanta Panthers.
They improved their record to 7-2 with the win, marking the first winning season for head coach Felton Huggins and the most wins for the team in a season since 2021.
In his second game filling in for Torrence Bardell, Thorobreds’ quarterback Denim Johnson produced a career-best 392 passing yards on 76% passing and five touchdowns with no interceptions.
His top target, Darius Cyprian, caught six passes for 254 yards and scored three touchdowns. Jon McCall followed with four receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
Clark Atlanta quarterback Xzavier Jackson had a career day of his own, throwing for 425 yards, completing 32-of-49 passes, and four touchdowns.
Armone Harris accounted for all four of the Panthers’ receiving touchdowns, hauling in 15 receptions for 225 yards.
After being forced to punt on each of their first two offensive drives, the Thorobreds would score touchdowns on their next five offensive drives to build a 36-10 lead in the third quarter.
This included two one-play 80-yard touchdown drives, both coming from pass connections from Johnson to Cyprian in the first and third quarters.
Clark Atlanta would trim the deficit with a pair of touchdowns bridging the third and fourth quarters, though it would fail the two-point conversion each time to make the score 36-22.
However, Kentucky State would put the finishing touches on this game on the ensuing possession, following a third and final touchdown connection from Johnson to Cyprian.
Kentucky State will now go into the final weekend of the regular season needing a win and some help in its quest for an SIAC championship berth.
If Kentucky State beats Lane and Benedict loses to Savannah State, the Thorobreds will advance to face Albany State in the title game.
Though Benedict simply needs a win against Savannah State to eliminate KSU from championship contention.