bluphiiijsu
Creative Director
September 20, 2001
Tigers head home to Delta
JSU players who grew up near Valley won't lack motivation
By Mark Alexander
Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer
If not for a twist of fate a few years ago, Llvee Archie would be playing the trombone in the Sonic Boom or the Lean, Mean, Green Marching Machine Saturday when Jackson State takes on Mississippi Valley at Itta Bena.
Tigers from the Delta
QB Robert Kent Indianola
DL Llvee Archie Greenwood
RB Tarnaka Counselor Clarksdale
DE Marcus Greer Greenwood
DL Joshua Matthews Greenwood
DB Al Moore Greenwood
OL Johnny Maddox Clarksdale
WR Mario Young Indianola
Instead, Archie will be playing playing defensive end for the Tigers.
"Me and my band director had a falling out my senior year in high school," Archie said Wednesday before practice. "That's when I decided to go out for football."
It's a decision that has paid off not only for Archie, but for JSU as well. Archie got a football scholarship, and the Tigers got a quality defensive lineman.
He and former Greenwood High teammates Marcus Greer, Joshua Matthews and Al Moore make their return to the Delta Saturday when JSU opens Southwestern Athletic Conference play against the Delta Devils. The foursome has been talking about this trip since last summer.
"I can't wait to get up to Valley," Archie said. "I'm excited about it; we're all excited about it. We're going home. It's our homecoming."
It's also a homecoming for JSU quarterback Robert Kent and wide receiver Mario Young. Each played at nearby Indianola.
"We all want to go home and have a great game and come out with a win," Kent said. "It should be a lot of fun."
Tickets are a hot commodity for the JSU-Valley game ? Rice-Totten Stadium seats just under 10,000. Yet, Archie and gang expect a plethora of family and friends to be on hand.
"My whole family is going to be there," said Greer, who grew up seven minutes from the Valley campus. "I'll probably have 20-25 people at the game."
Said Matthews: "Everybody is going to be there. Everybody."
That includes Matthews' mother, who happens to be a Valley graduate. Who will she be pulling for Saturday?
"Her son, me of course," Matthews said with a smile.
Archie's mother, Carol, will be in attendance as well. She worked at Valley for 19 years. His brother, Michael, is a freshman on the Valley basketball team. Two of Archie's aunts still work at Valley, and one of his uncles just retired from Valley. Archie used to attend a summer youth program at Valley.
"I've got a lot of ties up there," Archie said. "I thought about going to school at Valley, but it was my second choice. From the football side of things, Jackson State had the better program."
That was far from Archie's mind until his senior year. At 6 feet 3, 275 pounds, he looked more like a football player than a trombone player. But "band was my first love," he said.
"He was a big ol' guy," Greer said. "We wanted him to play football, but he chose the band. We just gave up after a while."
Archie played in the symphonic band (first chair) for four years and in the marching band for three years. He thought about playing football some, but he thought he owed it to his mother to stay in the band.
"When I was in ninth grade, she bought me a horn that cost $1,000, and she said you're going to play in the band," Archie said.
He did, until his final year of high school. He started on the offensive and defensive lines until his season was cut short after he broke his leg in the third game.
"I was thinking then I should have stayed in the band," he said with a laugh.
But he showed enough promise in those three games to catch the eye of many college coaches.
"He dominated," Matthews said.
JSU coach Robert Hughes was recruiting the Delta at the time.
"His coach said he's a sleeper," Hughes said. "So I took a chance on him. Anybody that big you're supposed to take a chance on."
That coach was Charles Brady, a former JSU football player. Greenwood's athletic director, Alfred Hall, also is a JSU graduate.
"We've got a lot of good players from that area," Hughes said.
Too many for Valley coach LaTraia Jones' liking. "I wish I had some of them," he said.
Valley's media guide lists nearly two dozen players from the Delta, many of whom played with or against some of the guys from the Delta on JSU's team.
"We plan on showing them what we can do," Archie said.
Tigers head home to Delta
JSU players who grew up near Valley won't lack motivation
By Mark Alexander
Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer
If not for a twist of fate a few years ago, Llvee Archie would be playing the trombone in the Sonic Boom or the Lean, Mean, Green Marching Machine Saturday when Jackson State takes on Mississippi Valley at Itta Bena.
Tigers from the Delta
QB Robert Kent Indianola
DL Llvee Archie Greenwood
RB Tarnaka Counselor Clarksdale
DE Marcus Greer Greenwood
DL Joshua Matthews Greenwood
DB Al Moore Greenwood
OL Johnny Maddox Clarksdale
WR Mario Young Indianola
Instead, Archie will be playing playing defensive end for the Tigers.
"Me and my band director had a falling out my senior year in high school," Archie said Wednesday before practice. "That's when I decided to go out for football."
It's a decision that has paid off not only for Archie, but for JSU as well. Archie got a football scholarship, and the Tigers got a quality defensive lineman.
He and former Greenwood High teammates Marcus Greer, Joshua Matthews and Al Moore make their return to the Delta Saturday when JSU opens Southwestern Athletic Conference play against the Delta Devils. The foursome has been talking about this trip since last summer.
"I can't wait to get up to Valley," Archie said. "I'm excited about it; we're all excited about it. We're going home. It's our homecoming."
It's also a homecoming for JSU quarterback Robert Kent and wide receiver Mario Young. Each played at nearby Indianola.
"We all want to go home and have a great game and come out with a win," Kent said. "It should be a lot of fun."
Tickets are a hot commodity for the JSU-Valley game ? Rice-Totten Stadium seats just under 10,000. Yet, Archie and gang expect a plethora of family and friends to be on hand.
"My whole family is going to be there," said Greer, who grew up seven minutes from the Valley campus. "I'll probably have 20-25 people at the game."
Said Matthews: "Everybody is going to be there. Everybody."
That includes Matthews' mother, who happens to be a Valley graduate. Who will she be pulling for Saturday?
"Her son, me of course," Matthews said with a smile.
Archie's mother, Carol, will be in attendance as well. She worked at Valley for 19 years. His brother, Michael, is a freshman on the Valley basketball team. Two of Archie's aunts still work at Valley, and one of his uncles just retired from Valley. Archie used to attend a summer youth program at Valley.
"I've got a lot of ties up there," Archie said. "I thought about going to school at Valley, but it was my second choice. From the football side of things, Jackson State had the better program."
That was far from Archie's mind until his senior year. At 6 feet 3, 275 pounds, he looked more like a football player than a trombone player. But "band was my first love," he said.
"He was a big ol' guy," Greer said. "We wanted him to play football, but he chose the band. We just gave up after a while."
Archie played in the symphonic band (first chair) for four years and in the marching band for three years. He thought about playing football some, but he thought he owed it to his mother to stay in the band.
"When I was in ninth grade, she bought me a horn that cost $1,000, and she said you're going to play in the band," Archie said.
He did, until his final year of high school. He started on the offensive and defensive lines until his season was cut short after he broke his leg in the third game.
"I was thinking then I should have stayed in the band," he said with a laugh.
But he showed enough promise in those three games to catch the eye of many college coaches.
"He dominated," Matthews said.
JSU coach Robert Hughes was recruiting the Delta at the time.
"His coach said he's a sleeper," Hughes said. "So I took a chance on him. Anybody that big you're supposed to take a chance on."
That coach was Charles Brady, a former JSU football player. Greenwood's athletic director, Alfred Hall, also is a JSU graduate.
"We've got a lot of good players from that area," Hughes said.
Too many for Valley coach LaTraia Jones' liking. "I wish I had some of them," he said.
Valley's media guide lists nearly two dozen players from the Delta, many of whom played with or against some of the guys from the Delta on JSU's team.
"We plan on showing them what we can do," Archie said.