SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 21, 2013
Alabama-Birmingham 52, Northwestern State 28: Darrin Reaves rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns, and a 31-point first half sparked the host Blazers to their first victory.
Jamarcus Nelson caught a touchdown pass and returned a punt for a score, Austin Brown fired a pair of touchdown passes and Jonathan Perry added a scoring pass for Alabama-Birmingham (1-2). The Blazers scored 14 points in the first five minutes, led 17-7 after a quarter and 31-14 at halftime.
Garrett Atzenweiler rushed for 100 yards and two first-half touchdowns for Northwestern State (2-2). The Demons have been outscored 118-37 in losing their past two games.
Brown threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Kennard Backman, and Nelson’s 63-yard punt return made it 14-0 Blazers with 10:09 left in the first quarter. Atzenweiler’s 1-yard run brought Northwestern State within 14-7 with 4:11 left in the quarter, but Ty Long’s 27-yard field goal late in the first and Perry’s 23-yard TD pass to Jamari Staples made it 24-7 Alabama-Birmingham.
Atzenweiler’s 3-yard run pulled the Demons within 24-14 with 4:41 left in the half, but Reeves capped a 69-yard march with an 8-yard touchdown with 1:08 remaining in the half. Nelson caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Brown and Reaves added a 50-yard run as the Blazers moved ahead 45-21 midway through the third quarter.