Nickolas Davis
Staff Writer
The Tigers fall short once again in a hard fought defensive battle to SWAC East competitor Alabama State University in Montgomery.
Without senior star wide receiver, Daniel Williams, the offense noticeably, struggled, as the have been all season. Although Jarin Morikawa has been playing well over the last three games (24-43,234, 1TD) the lack of balance between run and pass has made the tigers one dimensional and easy for opponents to key on.
The second drive for the Tigers would take them all the way to the ASU 15 yard line, but after a dropped pass by senior WR Desean McKenzie on 3rd down, set junior kicker Christian Jacquemin up for a field goal that would unfortunately go wide left.
Great defensive play would lead to no points being scored on either side of the ball. The closest to a score was a missed field goal by ASU with 5 minutes left in the first half. The Tigers could not find away to sustain drives to be in a position to score.
1st and 10 from the defending 37-yard line with 8:18 in the 3rd, Morikawa dropped back and delivered a strike to senior WR Jarius Moll who would out run the ASU secondary for the score. Jacquemin would add the extra point and give the Tigers a 7-0 lead and some life midway through the third.
ASU did not quit as they drove the ball down the field and capped of the drive with a 23 yards pass completion for a touchdown.
3 and outs back and forth would ensue before a critical punt and penalty would set up ASU at the Tiger 15 yard line that would put the Hornets in great position to punch in a score on a 15-yard run.
Now down 14-7, with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the reeling offensive would half to come up big to win the game for JSU.
A drive that we haven’t seen since the beginning of the game of balanced run and pass would get the Tigers all the way to the ASU 7 yard line before an incompletion on 4 and 5 gave the ball to the Hornets with 5:16 left on the clock. ASU tried to run the clock but the dominant Tiger defense prevented them from getting the yards they needed to keep the drive alive.
After another punt, JSU got the ball back with 3:29 with 56 yards between them and six points.
An abysmal three plays would follow.
Three consecutive incompletions would fluster the chance at a tie. Hughes put his hope in his superior defense with a punt back to ASU with 3 minutes remaining.
Back up Qb Ju Young-Battle would orchestrate a drive that dashed the Tigers hope, by working the clock, setting up for a game clinching field goal. The field goal was completed but the effort from the Tiger D to block the kick lead to a roughing the kicker penalty which ASU accepted and ran out the 40 seconds that were left on the clock.
The Tigers now 3-4 in the SWAC dropped the first game they were favored to win. Despite the lost JSU is still tied for first in the SWAC East and can still win the division if the last two games of the season are won. Next for the Tigers is Alabama A&M (3-5,3-6) in the last home game of the year and a pre-game recognition for the seniors.
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