{"id":7999,"date":"2016-11-03T16:33:08","date_gmt":"2016-11-03T16:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/?p=7999"},"modified":"2016-11-03T16:33:08","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T16:33:08","slug":"tigers-suffer-tough-loss-to-prairie-view-am-in-homecoming-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/2016\/11\/03\/tigers-suffer-tough-loss-to-prairie-view-am-in-homecoming-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Tigers suffer tough loss to Prairie View A&M in Homecoming game"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
JSU Tigers huddle and pray at the end of the game. Photo: Charles A. Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Morgan Beard and\u00a0<\/strong>Nickolas Davis
\n<\/strong>Staff Writers<\/em><\/p>\n

The Jackson State University Tigers fell to the visiting Panthers of Prairie View A&M 28-14 in their Homecoming matchupt on Oct. 29. With 39,217 fans and alumni in attendance, the loss was the Tiger\u2019s third in a row in the series and it keeps the Tiger\u2019s tied with Alcorn for 1st place in standings for the SWAC Eastern Division.<\/p>\n

JSU is now (3-5) overall and (3-3) in SWAC play. Junior quarterback Jarin Morikawa from Mililani, Hawaii, started the game with 26 of 47 passes for 286 yards. Freshman quarterback Juwan Adams from Summit, Miss, also saw action with 5 carries for 10 yards on the ground. He was also the team leading rusher.<\/p>\n

A few minutes before the game started, senior DE\/LB Javancy Jones from Macon, Miss., stood at the 50-yard line with his family for an early senior day celebration. The scene of Jones\u2019 mother, Kristine Jones, on the field in a wheelchair with him provided a powerful moment for many who watched the scene unfold. It was the first time this season Ms. Jones attended one of her son\u2019s games.<\/p>\n

Diagnosed in 2012 with neurimyelitis optica, a disease that left her paralyzed from the neck down and made her legally blind, Ms. Jones suffered a major recurrence of the disease over the summer.<\/p>\n

Jones, who is one of the top players in the SWAC, played an inspired game in spite of the\u00a0 JSU loss. He had 11 total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.<\/p>\n

In the 1st quarter, with 8:34 on the clock, PVAM Anthony Wiltz caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Morton giving the Panthers a 7-0 lead. On the next drive, the Tigers had a tough time running the ball on the ground. On 3rd down, Morikawa connected a pass to senior wide receiver Jairus Moll from Laplace, La., who caught 8 passes for 55 yards.<\/p>\n

Morikawa threw an interception to a PVAM defender in the 2nd quarter with 26 minutes on the clock, PVAM Cameron Smith caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Morton giving the Panthers a 14-0 as time expired in the first half.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the 3rd quarter, freshman running back Jordan Johnson from Terry, Miss., fumbled the ball on the kickoff return, giving the Panthers possession of the ball again deep in Tiger territory. The Panthers only had to go 15 yards to score a touchdwon that gave the Panthers a 21-0 lead.<\/p>\n

On the next JSU drive, the offense finally got things clicking, mostly through the air. A big part of the offensive movement was senior wide receiver Dan Williams from East St. Louis, Ill, who lead the team in receiving yards with 8 catches for 136 yrds. He was dependable on two third down the conversions. This was his third 10-yard receiving yards in a single game this season.<\/p>\n

Toward the middle of the 3rd quarter, the Tigers were finally able to put some points on the board with a \u2013yard touchdown run by junior Robert Johnson from Terry, Miss., to cut the lead down to 21-7. This was Robert Johnson; third touchdown this season.<\/p>\n

Before the game, students and alumni were excited about the atmosphere of Homecoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t had really too much to look forward to this week, but I\u2019m excited for today\u2019s game. It just seems like a different environment,\u201d said Tamia O\u2019Kelly, a sophomore business administration major from Atlanta, Ga.<\/p>\n

Amber Adams a freshman pre-med major from Chicago,Ill. Said, \u201cThis is my first Jackson State game, so I\u2019m pretty pumped. I really enjoyed the halftime show the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winnie Bush, a junior social work major from Detroit, Mich, said, \u201cI don\u2019t know much about football, but that doesn\u2019t even matter today. Its Homecoming!\u201d<\/p>\n

Late in the 3rd quarter, QB Adams capped off a 73-yard drive with a 3-yard end around run to cut down the Panthers lead 21-14. In the 4th quarter, it was anybody\u2019s game to win.<\/p>\n

PVAM couldn\u2019t find any luck running or passing the ball against the Tigers defense, but neither could the Tigers offense against the Panthers defense.<\/p>\n

Junior defensive end Keontre Anderson from Canton, Miss., had 2 sacks and a forced fumble which help keep the Tigers in the ball game. He also leads the SWAC in tackles for loss.<\/p>\n

With slightly under 11 minutes left in the game, the Tigers were starting to build another drive when Morikawa threw a pass to wide receiver Richard Jevon Floyd as he was hit with pressure. The pass may have had too much air under it, as Floyd had to retrace his steps to the ball and in process was tripped up by the defender who replaced him in stride to catch the ball which resulted in Morikawa\u2019s second interception of the game.<\/p>\n

Floyd, who is from Gulfport, Miss., said, \u201cWe just got to contiune to play great defense. Make plays on offense and not turn the ball over. We will win out and be back in Houston for the SWAC Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Late in the 4th quarter, with a weary Tigers defense on the field without Jones or Anderson, PVAMU scored a 4-yard rushing touchown to close out the game with\u00a0 a\u00a0 28-14 win.<\/p>\n

A few players spoke on the events at the game and how to move forward after a tough loss.<\/p>\n

Ramone Ward, a sophomore defensive back from Atlanta, Ga., said, \u201cWe can win out. Even though we\u2019ve dropped some critical games that we could have won. We are still in first place and still have a chance at the championship. We are the best team in the East and we are going to show it these last 3 games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daunte Fisher, a junior offensive lineman from Houston, Texas said, \u201cWe just got to have a playoff mentality for the next three games. We need to work harder together. But also keep our composure when things aren\u2019t going our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson State looks to bounce back from this loss with what can be perceived as a 3 game playoff with the last three competitors all from the east, starting with bitter rival Alabama State University on Nov. 5 in Montgomery, Ala. This will be the 46th meeting on field between both HBCU\u2019s. The Hornets are 2-6 in competition thus far in the 2016 football season. If the Tigers can win out, they will be headed to Houston for a SWAC Champiosnhip matchup on Dec. 3.<\/p>\n

NOTE: Daniel Williams now holds the Tigers\u2019s career receptions mark previously held by JSU legend Sylvester Morris, who was drafted out of JSU in 2000, previously set the record with 182 catches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morgan Beard and\u00a0Nickolas Davis Staff Writers The Jackson State University Tigers fell to the visiting Panthers of Prairie View A&M 28-14 in their Homecoming matchupt on Oct. 29. With 39,217 fans and alumni in attendance, the loss was the Tiger\u2019s third in a row in the series and it keeps the Tiger\u2019s tied with Alcorn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}