Lopez leads North Alabama past Jackson State 24-7

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Christian Lopez passed for 212 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 64 yards and another score to propel North Alabama to a 24-7 victory over Jackson State on Saturday.

The Lions (5-3), one of three FCS independent teams, built their lead behind a dominant defense and steady play from Lopez, who completed 14 of 23 passes. North Alabama allowed just four first downs and 65 total yards in building a big lead after three quarters.

Lopez scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter and sandwiched a second-quarter 23-yard TD strike to Donzell Polite and a 42-yard TD toss to Cortez Hall around Chandler Carrera's 23-yard field goal for the three-score advantage.

The Tigers (3-3) got on the scoreboard when Keshawn Harper ran it in from the 3-yard line with 10:53 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Lions piled up 365 yards of offense, while holding the Tigers to 163.