Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 45

-A. Sunday, September 16, 1990 The Clarion-Ledger 1 1 SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC COHERENCE jiniji ASU's 41-3 romp illustrates Alcorn's plight FLORIDA AIM 28, MISS. VALLEY 13 First Downs Rushes-Yards Passing Yards Total Yards Passes Fumbles-Lost Punts-Avg. Penalties-Yards Miss. Valley Florida AIM mvsu fa 17 -2! 15-37 5M5 275 9f 17-35-2 12j8 2-2 .2 M6J 7-66 f.4f 6 -w The Braves fall to 0-3 during a rebuilding year for coach Theo Danzy.

7 7 14 0 By Todd Kellv Specie! To The Clarion-ledger MVSU Cotton 16 pass from Stewart Dewett kick). FAMU Wynn 17 pass frw Eiell (Vertunokick) FAMU Rasul 12 run (Vertunokick). MVSU Stewart 13TUJ (kick tailed). FAMU Rasul 4 run (Vertuno kick). FAMU Rasul 6 run (Verftnt kick) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-MVSU, Stewart 4-16, Russ 4-18, Brown 2-8, Co 4-(-5), Ball 1-0, FA MIX Rasul 24-135, Reddick 11-65.

Jones 5-29, EzellS-IS. Ashwood2-S. PASSING-MVSU, Stewart 11-23-2-137, Cox 510-0-128, Smith 1-2-0-7, FAMU, Ejefl )J-26-0-98 Brown 1-1-0-I-6). RECEIVING-MVSU, Horner 6-152, Cotton 3-69, Humphrey 4-55, Washington -2i Russ 1-7, Dixon 1-17, FAMU, Wynn 4-36, Thurman2-I6. Rasul 2-4, Daniels 1-18, Fann 1 Brown 1-5, Ashwood 1-1-6).

t-l ALABAMA STATE 41, ALCORN STATE 3 ALA ALC First Downs 16 14 Rushes-Yards 33-718 40-157 Passing Yards l5 77 Total Yards 413 J34 Passes 16-30-0 24-10-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 4-3 Punts-Avg. 6-33 4-39 3 Penalties-Yards 6-33 5 34 Alabama Statt 7 17 7 10-41 Alcorn SUtt 0 3 0 0-3 ALA Roberts 7 pass from Jones (Thompson kick). ALA Safety, ASU point blocked in end zone. ALC FG White 32. ALA Roberts 33 pass from Brown Thompson kick ALA Brooks 13 pass from Jones Jones to Brown for conversion ALA White one-yard run (Thompson kick).

ALA Thompson 37 FG. ALA Hardwick run (Thompson kick). INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS White 12-74. Baxter 6-56, Ashbya-31, Hodrick 7-M, Jones 3-17, Lewis 5-12, Pascal 1-4, Milsap 1-2. Alcorn Cleveland 10-54, Finkley 3-30, Martin 7-25, Crosby 6-18, Thompson 4-11, Hall 3-8, Mouton3-6, Herpin3-3, Merchant 1-2.

PASSING-Alabama Jones 25-11-0-123, Williams 4-4-0-39, Brown 1-1-0-33. Alcorn Martin 21-9-048, Hall 2-0-1-0, Fann 1-1-0-4. RECEIVING-Alabama Brown 4-58, Roberts 4-67, Nelson 2-17, Hodrick 1-19, Brooks 1-15, Loveless 1-15, Milsap 1-7, Martin 1-2. Alcorn Small 3-38, Harness 3-16, Tillman 2-24, Liddell 1-4, Cleveland 1-0. 4 I i- I Florida kSM passed to a wide-open Roberts who strolled in from the Alcorn 5-yard line with 5:1 8 left in the quarter.

Minutes later, Hall's second pass after entering the game was intercepted and returned (via a nifty lateral) to the Alcorn 13. Two plays later, Jones drilled a low strike to Horace Brooks to give Alabama State its 24-3 halftime lead. The Hornets got a third-quarter touchdown on a 1-yard run by Rico White. Alabama State added its final 10 points in the fourth quarter on a 37-yard field goal by Jason Thomson of Blackpool, England, and an 8-yard run by Stacy Hodrick. Afterward, Markham seemed surprised.

"I certainly didn't think it would go this way," he said. "Alcorn didn't look like an Alcorn from years in the past. They'll be much improved as the season goes on." The margin of victory was especially sweet for Jones, who finished the day 11 of 25 passing for 123 yards and two touchdowns. The junior from Lanier High School is one of six Hornet starters from Mississippi. "I always look forward to going against my homeboys.

I wished for the game to be a blowout. All week we had talked about making up for last year's game (a 27-13 Alcorn victory)," Jones said. Danzy said he plans to keep alternating quarterbacks. "Let's face it, if you've got a pitcher with a hot hand, you've got to go to him," he said. "I think using more than one will benefit us in the future.

"We're so young now, that we had a freshman lineman waving to the sideline. He wanted to come out of the game because he had got some sweat in his eye. We've got a ways to go." Alcorn defensive back Eric Ward is "doing fine" according to Danzy. Ward, a sophomore from Hattiesburg, was taken by ambulance to the Jefferson County Hospital after a second half neck injury. "They're just keeping him overnight as a precaution.

He'll go to Natchez tomorrow for a CAT scan," Danzy said. LORMAN One fact became even clearer during Alcorn State's home opener. Braves -oach Theo Danzy wasn't bluffing before the season when he said it would be a rebuilding year. Unfortunately for Alcorn, after Saturday's 41-3 loss to Alabama State, the building process appears to be moving along slower than a state highway project. It was the third straight lopsided defeat for Alcorn, which appears in danger of having its first losing season since 1982.

"I don't think they're 40 points better than we are, but we just kind of self-destructed. Just being realistic, we lost a lot of people from last season," Danzy said. Minus 17 starters from a year ago, Alcorn has been fforced to go with inexperience. Nowhere is that youth more apparent, and more troublesome, then at quarterback and the offensive line. Though talented, both sophomore starter Reginald Martin and freshman backup Dayna Hall have had a 'difficult time connecting with Alcorn's dangerous wi-deouts, Torrance Small and C.C.

Tillman. Martin and Hall completed just 10 of 24 passes Saturday. "It's frustrating that we have three of the best receivers in the league (Small, Tillman, and tight end Chris and we can't get the ball to them," Danzy said. "If they go inside the ball is late getting there. If they go outside, the quarterbacks don't notice they're open." "We wanted to play the run, and force them to throw," 'Alabama State coach Houston Markham said.

"We 'wanted to rush the quarterbacks from the outside, so that we wouldn't lose containment." "Those kids will be great quarterbacks in a couple of ears. We really wanted to sign Martin." Part of the problem against Alabama State was the Braves' inconsistent pass protection. Although they outruns Valley From Wire Service Reports Florida Amir Rasul scored three touchdowni to lead the Rattlers to a 28-13 victory over Mississippi Valley State at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. Rasul rushed for 135 yards on 24 carries to help FAMU even its record at 1-1. Rasul's first TD broke a 7-7 tie in the second quarter's His 12-yard run with 14 minutes and 11 seconds re maining in the half put the Rattlers in the lead to Rasul's final two scores came on runs of 4 and 6 yards in the third quarter.

Valley opened the scoring on a 16-yard pass from J.Rl Stewart to Tim Cotton with 11:04 left in the first quar ter. FAMU tied it on a 17-yard pass from Tony Ezell to Greg Wynn late in the first quarter. Valley, 1-2, pulled within a point in the second quarJ ter on Stewart's 13-yard touchdown run, but the extr4 point was missed. had only one sack, the Hornets, 1-1-1, were able to chase Martin and Hall out of the pocket for most of the game. That one sack helped end perhaps Alcorn's best drive of the day.

The Braves moved to the Hornet 17 on their opening possession, but a pair holdingpenalties and the sack left Alcorn with a fourth down and 40 at the Hornet 47-yard line. After the Alcorn punt, Alabama State marched from its own 4-yard line to the Alcorn 7. Hornet quarterback Ricky Jones then lobbed a touchdown pass to Derrick Roberts to give the visitors a 7-0 lead with 1 minute, 37 seconds left in the first quarter. From there, things begin to go bad in a hurry for Alcorn. With 11:15 left in the second quarter, Arthur English blocked an Earnest Fann punt.

Alabama State's Jerich Green appeared to recover the ball in the corner of the end zone, but it was ruled a safety to make it 9-0. After a 32-yard field goal by Alcorn's Kurt White, Alabama State moved 30 yards to the Alcorn 33. Markham then went to his bag of tricks. Flanker Reggie Brown JSU From ID right flat on a screen play. After the second-string fullback picked up one block, he went untouched to the end zone and JSU led 38-0 with nine minutes to play in the first half.

Javis Knott returned a tipped ball 30 yards for JSU's final points of the first half. JSU's final points of the game came on Dwayne Williams' 5-yard run with 2:29 left in the third quarter. Although it was never a contest, Miles coach Jerome Barkum, a former JSU great who went on to a stellar NFL career with the New York Jets, was happy. "I'm pleased with my kids' play," Barkum said. "We held them better than I thought we could.

I'm not depressed and I don't feel we have anything to be ashamed of. "We came down here knowing we would have to play one of the best teams in the SWAC, and it can only down the Toad in our own conference." For JSU, it was a night to work on depth. Gorden let the first-string offense and defense play the entire first half, then went to the bench heavily in the second half. "We felt we had to establish an 11-man unit on offense and defense and let them play and show some consistency," Gorden said. Now, the Tigers must get prepared for the heart of its schedule.

They play Mississippi Valley in Jackson next weekend, then its on the road against Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas, Alabama State in Montgomery, Southern in Baton Rouge and Grambling in Grambling. "Normally you like to play tough non -conference games," Gorden said, "Because those are the teams that can exploit weaknesses. "But this is a good game for us because we could play a lot of people and not have a week off." "The first half went real good," Gorden said, "Our offense and defense executed, we had no penalties and no turnovers and I was pleased to see that. "We felt we had to defend ourselves after the Tennessee State lost last week because we played poor- ly." Defensive back Robert Turner got JSU on the board first with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.

It was Turner's fourth interception this season and the second he returned for a score. i "Robert Turner is a charismatic football player," Gorden said, "In that series we should have had an interception on the first play, but our strong safety wasn't in the game mentally. Then when Robert had his chance, he was mentally strong and you saw what happened." Five minutes later, Chad Riley cored the first touchdown of his career when he went off tackle 10 yards to put JSU ahead 14-0. With a little help from Miles, JSU went ahead 17-0 on Ike Ayozie's 26-yard field goal. Facing a fourth-and-12 from its own 22-yard line, Miles attempted a fake punt.

The play backfired when punter Patrick Maxey overthrew his intended receiver, Charles Mosley. i On its next possession, JSU put together an eight-play, 45-yard scoring drive to go ahead 24-0. Robert Staten scored on a fourth-and-goal the 2 with 12:59 left in the second quarter. Showing no signs of remorse, the offense continued to dominate with two consecutive one-play touchdowns. After Lloyd Straughters recovered a fumble by Miles' Paul Caldwell on the Bears' 20, Shawn Greg-pry wasted no time hitting Tim Bar-riett in the right corner of the end zone for a 31-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Gregory found Robert Staten open in the ft. B.R. RascherTheClarion-Ledgei Jackson State running back Alex Robinson has a handful of Victor Jones' jersey as he drags the Miles defender downfield on a first-quarter run. BY THE NUMBERS Next up for JSU 31 10 3 3-3 9-30 5-42 27 11 1 2-2 3-40 6-70 Passes Completions Had Intercepted Fumbles-lost Punts-Avg. Penalties-Yards Attendance: 12,500 ii Liu -iMVT 'jf The opponent: Mississippi Valley Location: Itta Bena Enrollment: 2,000 Where they're playing: Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Game time: 7 p.m. Tickets: Available at selected restaurants in the city, at JSU and at the stadium. Jackson State's record: 2-1 JSU's record vs. opponent: 33-3-1 Coach: Larry Dorsey Coach's record: 1-2-0 overall; in first season at Mississippi Valley. Leading players: Frederick Washington, 6-3, 230-pound tight end; Ronald Humphrey, 6-1, 190 running back; David Woulard, 6-2, 230 linebacker; Ashley Ambrose, 5-11, 175 defensive back.

Last meeting: JSU 49, Mississippi Valley 0. 9-15-90 1 2 3 4 Miles OOOOO JSU 17 28 7 0 52 FIRST QUARTER The score: JSU scored on a 32-yard interception return by Robert Turner with 14:30 to go. Ike Ayozie's PAT was good. The situation: JSU led 7-0. The score: JSU scored on a 10-yard run by Chad Riley with 8:27 to go.

The setup: JSU drove 56 yards on eight plays. The situation: JSU led 14-0. The score: JSU scored on a 26-yard field goal by Ayozie with 3:34 to go. The setup: JSU drove 13 yards on six plays. The situation: JSU led 17-0.

SECOND QUARTER The score: JSU scored on a 2-yard run by Robert Staten with 12:59 to go. Ayozie's PAT was good. The setup: JSU drove 45 yards on eight plays. The situa tion: JSU led 24-0. The score: JSU scored on a 20-yard pass from Shawn Gregory to Tim Barnett with 12:04 to go.

Ayozie's PAT was good. The situation: JSU led 31-0. The score: JSU scored on a 30-yard pass from Shawn Gregory to C.B. Samuel with 8:55 to go. Ayozie's PAT was good.

The situation: JSU led 38-0. The score: JSU scored on a 30-yard interception return by Javis Knott' with :58 to go. Ayozie-rs PAT was good. The situation: JSU led 45-0. THIRD QUARTER The score: JSU scored on a 5-yard run by Dwayne Williams with 2:29 to go.

Ayozie's PAT was good. The INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Miles: Brown 15-17, Hamilton 6-17, Caldwell 1-3, Rogers 3-11, Lee l-(-16). Jackson State: Williams 7-47, Riley 3-32, Samuel 4-27, Staten 1-2, Gregory 2-(-3), Robinson 7-27, Smith 1-12, Jail 1-4, Johnson 2-19, Terrell 1-0, Jordan 2-(-22), Cunningham 3-17. Passing Miles: Brown 9-28-3 107, Davis 0-1-0 0, Tutson 0-1-0 0, Miles 0-1-0 0. Jackson State: Gregory 7-19-0 118, Smith 4-7-0 109, Jordan 0-1-1 0.

Receiving Miles: Thornton 3-36, Burks 2-38, Maxey 2-6, Hamilton 1-7, Tribue 1-15, Valentine 1-10. Jackson State: McGee 3-44, Kimbrough 2-27, Samuel 1-30, Barnett 1-20, Smith 1-17, Loving 1-46, Pate 1-22, Robinson 1-20. NOTES In the first half, JSU opened up each series with a no-huddle offense. Miles did not get its first first down until 7:55 left in the second quarter. The same play was also the Bears' first completion of the game.

At halftime, JSU players gave the family of Chris Moore, a 4-year-old who was diagnosed with having leukemia, a check for $2,623.40 to go toward medical expenses. Moore was also given the jerseys worn by his father Willie Moore and his godfather Nettle Chaney. 1 1 setup: JSU drove 62 yards in six plays. The situation: JSU led 52-0. FOURTH QUARTER There was no scoring.

TEAM STATISTICS MILES 9 28-(-12) 112 100 JSU 16 162 227 389 First Downs Rushes-Yards Passing Yards Total Offense B.R. RascherThe Clarion-Ledger JSU defensive back Javis Knott scored on a 30-yard interception return just before halftime. I 2.