 |
 |
 |
           |
Oct. 28, 2007
JACKSON, Miss.- Jackson State University Tiger football fans, students, and alumni began filling seats two hours early at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium for the 2007 homecoming game against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions Saturday evening. The Tigers looked to redeem themselves from a 20-30 loss to Grambling State the week before. While the UAPB Lions and head coach Maurice Forte came to Jackson with plans to disrupt the JSU's homecoming festivities and end their won two game loosing streak. Last year when the two teams met, Arkansas-Pine Bluff defeated 43-40. This year the tables were turned, as JSU picked up a hard earned 17-6 victory over the Lions. "It is a broken record, seems like we have been hearing the same thing in every game," said Forte. "We made far too many mistakes, too many penalties, it's always going to be hard to win when you're beating yourself." In the first quarter both teams played well defensively. Nine minutes into the first quarter, JSU kicker Eric Perri had the opportunity to score the first points of the game, was unable to convert on a 28-yard field-goal attempt. Perri connected on one-of-two field goal attempts. He made a 47-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. JSU running back Eric Haw put the first points on the scoreboard when he capped a 10 play, 56 yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run. Haw rushed for 22-yards and a touchdown. Running back Cody Hull who scored the last touch down of the game rushed for 20-yards. "We are always confident about a game whether we win or lose, the difference is the team and their records. With Arkansas-Pine Bluff we pretty much knew what their options were, so that's were we focused our efforts," said defensive back Domonique Johnson.
At the 5:34 mark in the second the UAPB Lions got on the scoreboard with a 45-yard field-goal John Heflin to make the score 7-3. Heflin made both of his field goal attempts, accounting for all the point that Arkansas-Pine Bluff scored. UAPB's Martell Mallett led all rushers with 79-yards. "It's been tough on us all year. The defense didn't do a bad job, but on some of the pass plays they couldn't hold long enough for a man to get open" said UAPB running back Martell Mallett. JSU quarterback Jimmy Oliver completed 17-of-30 passes racking up 209-yards. UAPB quarterback Chris Wallace completed only 8-of-16 for 89-yards. "They did a good job of covering the pass. Last week we lost because we played bad, we played bad as well today but fortunately we came away with a win," said Oliver. JSU wide receiver Terrence Jones caught three passes for 62-yards, Carlos Simpson made four receptions for 37-yard, and Hull had another 32 receiving yards. UAPB wide receiver Ryan Watley caught a game high six passes for 54-yards. The second half started just as the first half. Neither team scored in the third quarter. The next point didn't come until the fourth quarter when Perri nailed a 47-yard field goal to give JSU a 10-3 advantage. At the 9:15 mark in the fourth Heflin kicked a 32-yard field goal to cut JSU's lead to 10-6. With a 1:07 remaining in the game Hull came scored Jackson States final touchdown of the game on a nine yard run. " The defense played well enough to win, and we were very happy with our win today." said JSU head coach Rick Comegy. "UAPB played tough today, their coach had them ready, they knew it was our homecoming and knew that we would played harder so they played harder. "I like what we have here and I would like to keep it, but its going to hurt us because we have 17 seniors leaving us this year. I'm not worried though, my players are very excited about playing and they are willing to improve." Senior Daniel Brooks led JSU with 10 tackles, four tackles for a loss and a sack. Marcus Jamison followed with seven tackles and Marcus Benard recorded a game high two sacks. Tim Turner led UAPB with 10 tackles. Next week the Jackson State travels to Huntsville, Ala. to face Alabama A&M in a battle of SWAC Eastern Division leaders. Both teams are 5-1 in conference play. |
