mighty hornet
The HMIC!!
State finds itself in hole
By Mark Alexander
Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer
This just in . . . Alabama State has scored again.
OK, not really. But those on hand Saturday at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium wouldn't doubt it if that were true.
The Hornets scored early and often in a mesmerizing 61-58 victory over Jackson State Saturday, leaving the Southwestern Athletic Conference's Eastern Division up for grabs in the process.
Had JSU won the game, it would've put itself in the catbird's seat in the SWAC East. Now, the Tigers' path to Birmingham becomes a little bumpier, starting with Saturday's home game against Southern University.
JSU, 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the SWAC, Alabama State and Alcorn now each have one league loss. Alabama A&M has two after Saturday's 23-20 loss at Southern.
"It doesn't matter," said JSU coach Robert Hughes after watching his team suffer its first loss of the season. "We've all got at least one loss now. We've just got to come back from this."
To do so, JSU will have to find a way to shore up a leaky defense that has given up big plays at alarming rate thus far this season. The Tigers gave up big chunks of yardage in their first three games, but were able to minimize the damage against three less-than-stellar offensive teams.
That wasn't the case Saturday, however, against an Alabama State squad running on all cylinders behind quarterback Darnell Kennedy. The Hornets kept the Tigers' defense on its heels throughout with a nice balance of running (165 yards) and passing (259 yards), and during one stretch scored touchdowns on six of seven possessions.
"It's obvious we weren't clicking until the end of the game," JSU defensive tackle Antonio Lauderdale said. "By then it was too late."
Kennedy threw five touchdown passes and now has 10 touchdown passes ? and two victories ? against JSU the last two seasons.
"We had a lot of confidence coming into the game," Kennedy said. "We knew what we could do because we did it last year against them. They (JSU) put up a lot of points but not enough."
While Alabama State was marching up and down the field, JSU was doing the same. The Tigers rolled up a season-high 723 yards, 668 coming from quarterback Robert Kent. Receivers T.C. Taylor and Lawrence Story combined for 24 catches, 415 yards and four touchdowns. But it went for naught.
"We knew it was going to be a shootout," said Kent, who threw for six touchdowns and ran for another one. "Their pace was just faster than ours."
The Tigers didn't help their cause by fumbling the ball five times, once at the Alabama State 1-yard line and once late in the game at the Alabama State 10. The Hornets didn't commit any turnovers.
"The turnovers killed us," Taylor said.
The JSU defense forced Alabama State to punt on its final three possessions, giving the Tigers a chance for a late rally. Kent hit LaDerrick Crossley on a 35-yard scoring pass with six minutes, four seconds left to make it 61-58. But the Tigers came away empty on their final two possessions.
"Once we got that quick score we thought we were going to be able to come back and win it," Kent said. "We just ran out of time."
By Mark Alexander
Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer
This just in . . . Alabama State has scored again.
OK, not really. But those on hand Saturday at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium wouldn't doubt it if that were true.
The Hornets scored early and often in a mesmerizing 61-58 victory over Jackson State Saturday, leaving the Southwestern Athletic Conference's Eastern Division up for grabs in the process.
Had JSU won the game, it would've put itself in the catbird's seat in the SWAC East. Now, the Tigers' path to Birmingham becomes a little bumpier, starting with Saturday's home game against Southern University.
JSU, 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the SWAC, Alabama State and Alcorn now each have one league loss. Alabama A&M has two after Saturday's 23-20 loss at Southern.
"It doesn't matter," said JSU coach Robert Hughes after watching his team suffer its first loss of the season. "We've all got at least one loss now. We've just got to come back from this."
To do so, JSU will have to find a way to shore up a leaky defense that has given up big plays at alarming rate thus far this season. The Tigers gave up big chunks of yardage in their first three games, but were able to minimize the damage against three less-than-stellar offensive teams.
That wasn't the case Saturday, however, against an Alabama State squad running on all cylinders behind quarterback Darnell Kennedy. The Hornets kept the Tigers' defense on its heels throughout with a nice balance of running (165 yards) and passing (259 yards), and during one stretch scored touchdowns on six of seven possessions.
"It's obvious we weren't clicking until the end of the game," JSU defensive tackle Antonio Lauderdale said. "By then it was too late."
Kennedy threw five touchdown passes and now has 10 touchdown passes ? and two victories ? against JSU the last two seasons.
"We had a lot of confidence coming into the game," Kennedy said. "We knew what we could do because we did it last year against them. They (JSU) put up a lot of points but not enough."
While Alabama State was marching up and down the field, JSU was doing the same. The Tigers rolled up a season-high 723 yards, 668 coming from quarterback Robert Kent. Receivers T.C. Taylor and Lawrence Story combined for 24 catches, 415 yards and four touchdowns. But it went for naught.
"We knew it was going to be a shootout," said Kent, who threw for six touchdowns and ran for another one. "Their pace was just faster than ours."
The Tigers didn't help their cause by fumbling the ball five times, once at the Alabama State 1-yard line and once late in the game at the Alabama State 10. The Hornets didn't commit any turnovers.
"The turnovers killed us," Taylor said.
The JSU defense forced Alabama State to punt on its final three possessions, giving the Tigers a chance for a late rally. Kent hit LaDerrick Crossley on a 35-yard scoring pass with six minutes, four seconds left to make it 61-58. But the Tigers came away empty on their final two possessions.
"Once we got that quick score we thought we were going to be able to come back and win it," Kent said. "We just ran out of time."
