Photo by Monica McGhee<\/em><\/p>\n Cameron Adams Jackson State University\u2019s football team capped an already hype Homecoming off with a victory\u00a0on Saturday, Oct. 22 in its defeat over the Campbell Fighting Camels. The Tigers pulled of the\u00a0win with a score of 22-14 in front of the packed homecoming crowd at the Mississippi Veterans\u00a0Memorial Stadium.<\/p>\n The game was touted as one of the most anticipated games of the season, as Jackson State\u00a0pushed their winning streak to seven, against Campbell which was led by former National\u00a0Football League defensive back, Mike Minter. The entire stadium was filled with over 50,000 fans repping the trademark navy blue of Jackson\u00a0State, matching the uniforms of the football players. The fans were not the only ones who\u00a0brought life to the arena.<\/p>\n Although the game took place on a bright and sunny afternoon, the Vet was star-studded.\u00a0Coach Sanders\u2019 signature bright red recliners on the sidelines were filled with well-known\u00a0celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, and Yella Beezy. The cast of popular STARZ series\u00a0P-Valley, were also in attendance after Coach Prime\u2019s request for an appearance in late August.<\/p>\n JSU\u2019s Homecoming theme of \u201cA Different World\u201d was fitting for the Tigers\u2019 out of conference\u00a0matchup. Coach Prime shared the challenges the team faced against the Big South Conference\u00a0leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were physical. They were tough. They didn\u2019t make many mistakes,\u201d said the NFL Hall of\u00a0Famer. This was no surprise for the Tigers.<\/p>\n Coach Prime emphasized his respect for Coach Minter as a former player and as a coach\u00a0several days before the face off.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a tough, gritty, hard-nosed player that took no junk,\u201d said Sanders to HBCU Gameday.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s the way they [Campbell] take the field.\u201d<\/p>\n The rugged playing style of the Fighting Camels caused Jackson State to not score a single\u00a0touchdown in the first half.\u00a0Despite the drought, the Tigers finished the half with 9 points to the Camels\u2019 7, thanks to the\u00a0three field goal conversions made by Alejandro Mata. Coach had no problem with taking these\u00a0attempts due to his confidence in Mata.<\/p>\n Coach Prime expressed his high praise for Mata and his consistency in field goals.\u00a0\u201cI feel like we have the best kicker in college football,\u201d said Sanders. \u201cI have no second guess\u00a0about attempting a field goal, because I know we\u2019re going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n Another player who played a huge factor in the offense of the Tigers was the sophomore\u00a0running back from Chicago, Ill., Syveon Wilkerson. According to the stats, Wilkerson racked up\u00a0116 of the Tigers\u2019 178 rushing yards.<\/p>\n Wilkerson claimed that he found his rhythm after halftime, by discussing strategies with his\u00a0teammates to get him better looks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went in and made adjustments\u2026We were talking about who we need to block on certain\u00a0plays,\u201d said the Offensive Player of the Game, \u201c[The field] started opening up once we made\u00a0adjustments at halftime.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilkerson finished with one touchdown out of the 2 total touchdowns made. The pass was\u00a0made by Shedeur Sanders, Heisman Trophy candidate.<\/p>\n Coach Minter tried to reduce the amount of points Sheduer would be responsible for, causing\u00a0him to run the ball more than usual.<\/p>\n Although the offense struggled against a tough defensive Campbell team, the Tigers decided to\u00a0return the favor.\u00a0The 6\u20192, Memphis native and linebacker for Jackson State, Aubrey Miller Jr., notched up 13\u00a0tackles along with one sack.<\/p>\n He was electric after each defensive stop, posing for the thousands of fans in attendance. He\u00a0stated that the success of his defense came from the team\u2019s trust in each other to do their job.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only thing you can do is make plays,\u201d said Miller Jr. \u201cJust doing our job, trusting each\u00a0other.\u201d<\/p>\n After the slow first half, the Tigers began to pick up pace in the second. Wilkerson delivered the dagger touchdown during the final three minutes of play. He completed\u00a0five rushes for a total of 45 yards on the possession, ending the game at 22-14.<\/p>\n The homecoming game was a well fought battle and Coach Prime expected nothing less.<\/p>\n \u201cThis wasn\u2019t a traditional homecoming. This was a homecoming that we chose to give someone\u00a0a stage to someone that deserved it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Now the Tigers must prepare for battle against SWAC rival Southern University as they look to\u00a0secure their final home victory of the season next Saturday, Oct. 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo by Monica McGhee Cameron Adams Sports Editor Jackson State University\u2019s football team capped an already hype Homecoming off with a victory\u00a0on Saturday, Oct. 22…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11253,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11234\/revisions\/11253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSports Editor<\/p>\n
\nThe Tigers\u2019 victory matched the best start of the season since the 1963 Tigers led by W.C.\u00a0Gorden.<\/p>\n
\nSheduer was able to find D.J. Stevens for a wide open touchdown as he ran 45 yards across\u00a0the left sidelines to extend the lead to 15-7.<\/p>\n