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Oct. 21, 2007
JACKSON, Miss. - On a cool sunny Saturday afternoon it was the battle of the Tigers. The 4-0 Jackson State Tigers took on the 5-0 Grambling State Tigers in an ESPN Classic televised game at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. Head Coach Rod Broadway brought his GSU Tigers to the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium to see if they could put an end to Head coach Rick Comegy and his JSU Tigers' four-game winning streak. Last year when the two teams met it was petty much the same scenario, two of the better Southwestern Athletic Conference teams coming together to take each other out. Last year Grambling walked away with the victory in Grambling, La. This year history repeated itself, as Grambling defeated JSU 30-20. GSU gained possession of the ball first when JSU deferred off the coin toss. Grambling State came trying to establish the run game. Five minutes into the game Grambling running back Frank Warren scored the first touchdown of the game. Warren rushed for 73-yards. On the next possession the J-State Tigers answered right back with a five-play drive of 83-yards. Jimmy Oliver hooked up with wide receiver Christopher Johnson for a 75-yard touchdown pass, to tie the game 7-7. Oliver who was pulled in the second half passed for 224-yards completing 14 of 21 attempts and one touchdown. Quarterback Trae Rutland passed for 104-yards completing five of 15. On JSU's next possession Eric Perri made the first of two field goals he had on the day. Perri connected from 25-yards to give the Tigers a 10-7 lead at the 5:30 mark in the first. He scored JSU's final points of the game at the 14:46 mark in the fourth quarter when he made a 27-yard field goal. With 4:14 remaining in the first quarter the JSU defense stepped up a notch, forcing Grambling to punt from its own end zone. However, Jaymar Johnson fumbled on the return and was recovered by GSU on the JSU 45-yard line. Again the Tigers defense held, forcing a Grambling field goal that tied the score at 10-10.
As the game progressed so did the intensity, in the second quarter Grambling State's quarterback Brandon Landers found wide-receiver Clyde Edwards for a 35-yard touchdown pass, with the extra point GSU reclaimed the lead at 17-10. "This was an entirely different team than what I seen last year," said head coach Rick Comegy. Grambling's lead didn't last long before running back Eric Haw scored on a one-yard touchdown run. GSU's Tim Manuel gave the G-men a 20-17 lead going into half time when he nailed a 25-yard field goal. At the beginning of the third quarter each team's defense seemed to cancel each other out until a punt by JSU Brett Bennett was blocked by Grambling defensive back Lance Castleberry shifting the momentum in GSUs favor, putting them in field goal range. At the 2:40 mark GSU's Manuel connected on a 32-yard field goal to make the score 23-17. 13 seconds later Grambling defensive back Zaire Wilburn put the icing on the cake when he finished off a ten-point swing with a 4-yard touchdown off a JSU fumble. "It was a very exciting game, to come here and beat a good team is an accomplishment for our team. We had turnovers and had trouble finishing our drives. My main focus defensively was to stop the run and secure the ball, when we did that everything just came in place," said Grambling's head coach Rod Broadway. "We always try to convert the third that helps a lot. To have a guy like Clyde Edwards is a plus I just put it in the air and he go and gets it," said GSU's Brandon Landers. "JSU defense was big and aggressive they kept me under pressure so I have to tip my hat to them." Overall Grambling finished with a total of 123-yards in rushing, while JSU only had 25-yards in rushing. Grambling's Cornelius Walker rushed for a total of 56-yards. Quarterback Brandon Landers for Grambling passed for 348-yards and one touchdown, completing 22 of 41 pass attempts and one interception. Grambling receiver Clyde Edwards racked up 115-yards and a touchdown. "We were not on the same page at times in the second half but Trae still did a good job of finding the open man. There was a lot of hype behind this game. I think maybe we were a little too overly excited. It's a loss that's for sure so the only thing we can do is think about future games and leave this one is in the past," said Jackson State defensive back Malcolm Palmer. JSU's Jaymar Johnson racked up a total of 105 receiving yards and Christopher Johnson got 101 receiving yards. Haw rushed for seven yards but got 22 in receiving yards and a touchdown. Palmer finished with nine tackles and two interceptions. "We made too many mistakes down the stretch. After the half time I thought we were still in the game but that fumble hurt us bad. When their defense scored that was the turning point in the game. I think my team played well and I look forward to seeing them again," said Comegy. Jackson State will return to action Saturday, Oct. 27 for the 2007 homecoming game. Kick-off is set for 3 p.m. at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. For ticket information contact the JSU Athletic Department Ticket Office at 601-979-2420. |
