Lenorris Footman races past the competition
When Alcorn State University Braves starting quarterback John Gibbs Jr. went down with an injury against the Southern Jaguars on a rainy Saturday in October, backup quarterback and sophomore Lenorris Footman stepped in as his replacement. Once he got on the field, he put on a legendary display that landed him a spot in the record books.
Footman wowed the crowd by accounting for six touchdowns in their 48-7 rout over the Jaguars. He showed off his exceptional arm by throwing two touchdowns for 38 and 29 yards. He created magic with his legs by rushing for four touchdowns from 44, 17, 30 and 60 yards. He finished the game with 274 rushing yards, which is a Southwestern Athletic Conference record for rushing yards by a quarterback. After that performance, Footman knew that he was capable of playing a significant role in the Braves’ title pursuit.
“That performance really gave my confidence a boost,” said Footman. “Every backup player really anticipates that moment when they can get into the game and get significant playing time. Every day I go out and work hard at practice and in that game, all of my hard work paid off.”
After his amazing performance against the Jaguars, Footman managed to score a total of 14 touchdowns, with seven passing and six rushing. He carried his momentum into the SWAC Championship Game against the Grambling State Tigers. Footman threw for 202 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 101 yards and one touchdown. Footman credits his football brothers for motivating him to perform at a high level.
“It feels good. My team didn’t look at me as a backup quarterback. They believed in me the whole time and my team encouraged me to do my best.”
As Footman and his teammates look forward to facing the North Carolina A&T Aggies in the Celebration Bowl, he said that they will approach the game with the same mindset they had all season, which is being successful.
“We have one more game to complete our ultimate goal for this season. We accomplished our goal of winning the SWAC Championship and now our goal is to win the Celebration Bowl.”
