Jeremy Anderson
Staff Writer
The Jackson State University Tigers will host their second game of a fouar game home stand on Oct. 11 against the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State University. This week is the annual homecoming game, and many JSU fans are eager to get the festivities started to squash the bad memories of last year’s no-show by Grambling State University.
The script is set for Saturday, and Hollywood could not have made it any better. Not only is an in-state rival coming to Jackson; but former JSU Head Coach Rick Comegy will be returning to Jackson for this first time with his new team, the MVSU Delta Devils.
For Comegy, this game is personal. Despite a 56-35 record, SWAC championship in 2007, and back to back trips to the SWAC championship in 2012 and 2013, Comegy was let go after last season at Jackson State. Shortly after his firing, MVSU hired him as head coach.
To add even more spice to the storyline of this year’s homecoming game, the two starting quarterbacks for this week’s game, Patrick Ivy of MVSU and Lamontiez Ivy of JSU, are brothers.
Both teams are coming off of Southwestern Athletic Conference losses last week. MVSU fell to 1-5 (0-4 SWAC), and JSU fell to 3-3 (1-2 SWAC). MVSU lost a four point game against Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. TSU escaped an upset with a 20-16 win. The game was a defensive struggle as neither team amassed over 257 total yards of total offense.
With the exception of their season opener against University of Faith, MVSU’s game against Texas Southern was statistically the best game they have played all season. Before TSU, MVSU gave up an average of 50.75 points a game in their previous four games. Defensively, the Delta Devils stepped up and only allowed 20 points against Texas Southern
Offensively, the Delta Devils continued to struggle as they only gained 216 total yards of offense. Outside of University of Faith, MVSU only averages 13.4 points a game but the Delta Devils do possess one of the most feared wide receivers in the SWAC, Julian Stafford. Even with a struggling offense in his time at MVSU, the all-conference, senior receiver has been star in the Delta Devil offense for the past two seasons. This season, Stafford is the SWAC’s leader in receiving yards per game.
Last week marked the second time this season that JSU gave an opponent their first win of the season. Prairie View A&M University was 0-4 entering their game against JSU. GSU and Prairie View had an emotional and unexpected first win in Mississippi Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in front of a stunned JSU crowd.
Prairie View gained over 500 yards of total offense against the Jackson State defense. Most of these yards came in the second half as Prairie View began to inch closer to their first victory. With running back Rakeem Sims being out, Jarius Moore found success by rushing for 145 yards on 16 carries. He scored twice, one rushing and one receiving touchdown.
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. in Mississippi Veteran’s Memorial Stadium. Come support your Tigers!
