LORMAN, Miss. -- Darryan Ragsdale ran for 173 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries and Alcorn State beat Alabama State 33-7 on Thursday night to take the Southwestern Athletic Conference's East Division lead.

The Braves (5-1, 3-0) beat the Hornets (4-2, 3-1) for the first time since 2010 and the second time in the last 11 meetings.

Alcorn State quarterback John Gibbs Jr. ran for 106 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. He completed 20 of 33 passes for 217 yards.

Alcorn State took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter. Haiden McCraney opened the scoring with a 47-yard field goal, Ragsdale had a 40-yard touchdown run and Arron Baker added a 1-yard scoring run. The Braves missed a chance to increase the lead when Ragsdale fumbled inside the 1 with 50 seconds left in the half after running for 12 yards.

McCraney made it 20-0 with a 31-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Malcolm Cyrus cut it to 20-7 with a 1-yard run with 5:25 left in the third, but Gibbs countered with a 53-yard scoring run for the Braves with 3:04 remaining in the quarter.

Ragsdale completed the scoring with a 31-yard run in the fourth.

The Braves held Cyrus to 65 yards on 22 carries after he entered the game averaging 144 yards rushing. Cyrus also had five catches for 72 yards.