UAPB looks for storybook ending
ROSCOE NANCE
Special to the BCSP
Talk about adversity, the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff had its share this season as everything that could go wrong seemingly did.
The Golden Lions, who began the season 1-3, had two key players declared ineligible for one game each in a two-week span of weekends, lost their top ball carrier for most of the year with an ankle injury and got a scare when head coach Mo Forte suffered chest pains which initially were feared to be a heart attack.
But the Golden Lions can write a storybook ending to an improbable season Saturday when they play Alabama A&M for the second time this season in the 8th annual SWAC Championship Game at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. It will be the Golden Lions' first appearance in the title game after winning the Western Division crown. Alabama A&M (8-3, 6-3), the Eastern Division champ led by head coach Anthony Jones, is winless in three previous championship game appearances.
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The Golden Lions (8-3, 7-2) reversed their 3-8 record of a year ago with many of the same players from last season.
"We had younger guys last season who didn't know what it was all about,'' Forte says. "This year we were able to take a team that had a tremendous attitude about being competitive, not thinking anybody was going to give them anything, but they had to earn it. We may not have had strong players as we did the last couple of years, but they became stronger, gained confidence in themselves and their teammates. They played as a team. They were the definition of team.''
Being a team is what got the Golden Lions through some difficult times early in the season. Sophomore running back Mickey Dean, SWAC Freshman of the Year last season when he was second in the conference in rushing, suffered a high ankle sprain in the season opening 10-0 loss to Mississippi Valley State and played in just four games. Martell Mallet replaced Dean and led the conference in rushing with 1,104 yards and he scored 14 touchdowns.
The day before the Mississippi Valley game, Forte learned that wide receiver Dedrick Poole, a transfer from the University of Arkansas, had been declared ineligible because his paperwork had been delayed. He was cleared to play the following week and went on to lead the conference in all-purpose yards (150.3 ypg.) and be named SWAC Newcomer of the Year.
Two weeks later, All-SWAC receiver Jason Jones (34 rec., 25.5 ypr., 11 TDs) was declared ineligible for the Golden Lions' game against Alabama State, which they lost 31-13. Jones regained his eligibility the next week, but his presence was not enough to prevent a 48-16 loss to Southern Illinois, which dropped the Golden Lions to 1-3.
They righted themselves the following week with a 31-19 victory against Tuskegee after trailing 16-0. After the game, Forte experienced chest pains, later diagnosed as indigestion.
"That was the worst five weeks of my life,'' Forte says. "I've never gone through anything like that.''
Forte hasn't gone through anything like he experienced the final seven weeks of the season either as the Golden Lions ran the table.
"I challenged them to win out,'' says Forte. They did, winning seven straight games including tough victories over perennial West Division kingpins Southern and Grambling.
UAPB's turnaround began with the victory against Tuskegee that
set the tone for the remainder of the season. They came from behind
in six of their last seven wins.
Their last-minute 43-40 victory against Jackson State solidified them as title contenders and confirmed Forte's preseason belief that the Golden Lions could win the Western Division crown
"Not a lot of people would have (agreed with my prediction)," said Forte, whose team was picked fourth in the five-team West Division in the preseason by league coaches.
"Coaches have a different perspective because they know the makeup of the team," said Forte. "Jackson (State), who had played well, once we beat them I could see and sense the confidence growing. They weren't cocky. They felt if they played together and never quit, they could do it."
UAPB defeated Alabama A&M 23-21 for the third victory in their seven-game win streak. The victory came after A&M QB Kelcy Luke was stopped short on a two-point conversion that would have tied the game with two minutes left.
Bulldogs coach Anthony Jones says the Golden Lions are a different now than they were then.
"They are a better football team,'' Jones says. "They were just starting to get their rhythm, get their feel. Now they're well into it. They have the confidence. They have some playmakers on their team who are filled with confidence. Before, there was a question in their minds if they could win. Now they know they can.''
UAPB QB Chris Wallace (1,978 passing yds., 19 TDs), the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, will not play the first half of the championship game. In the third quarter of the Golden Lions' last regular season game vs. Texas Southern, Wallace was involved in an altercation and was ejected. By NCAA rule he must sit out the first half of the next game.
With playmakers like Wallace, Poole, Mallet and Jones, UAPB led the SWAC in scoring (29.1 points) and was second in total offense (342.8 yards). Alabama A&M topped the conference in scoring defense (19.5 points) but is also quite capable of putting points on the board (23.9 ppg.) led by Luke (1,724 passing yds., 16 TDs), RBs Nic Luke (566 yds., 3 TDs) and Ta'Mar Scott (682 yds, 7 TDs). Dangerous freshman Ulysses Banks led the nation in kickoff returns (35.4 ypr., 2 TDs).
"They're strength is their offense,'' Jones says. "Our strength is our defense, and we both play very solid special teams. Our offense was middle of the pack. Their defense was the lower part of the pack as far as the conference is concerned. The supporting cast is going to have to make a difference.''
© 2006 Azeez Communications, Inc.