Old rivals to decide SWAC title
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
In Southwestern Athletic Conference lore, it doesn't get any better than Grambling vs. Jackson State on the football field, and that's exactly what's in store Saturday at Legion Field in Birmingham's when the two rivals meet in the league's ninth annual Championship Game, the last game of the 2007 black college football season.
SWAC West Division champion Grambling State (9-3) and East Division champ Jackson State (7-4) will be meeting for the second time this season, this time with the league's coveted title on the line. ESPN Classic will carry the game live. Back on Oct. 20 in Jackson, the G-Men beat JSU 30-20 en route to a perfect 8-0 start in SWAC play.
Expect another shootout as the teams come in with high-powered offenses led by capable and productive quarterbacks in Brandon Landers (GSU) and Jimmy Oliver (JSU).
Landers has a talented duo behind him in freshman running backs
Frank Warren and Cornelius Walker (524 yds., 5 TDs).
Landers also has two of the most dangerous receivers
in the league in all-conference wideouts
Reginald Jackson and Clyde Edwards (50 rec., 732
yds., 12 TDs). Running back Eric Haw and
wide receiver Jaymar Johnson (33 rec., 556 yds.,
7 TDs) are the chief JSU playmakers.
No SWAC school, or for that matter, no black college when it comes to football, carries more cachet than Grambling and Jackson State with a host of luminaries that have shined on the college stage like the late legendary Grambling head coach Eddie Robinson or in the professional ranks like late former Jackson State and NFL standout Walter Payton.
In recent years however, Grambling has been the more successful program.
The G-Men will seeking their 22nd title overall, and fifth since the league went to the championship game format in 1999. GSU is 4-0 in those title games.
Jackson State, who will be going for its 16th title, the last coming in 1996 during a stretch that saw the Blue Tigers win 13 league crowns in 24 years, including an unprecedented seven straight from 1985 thru 1990. This is their first championship game appearance since the inaugural title game in 1999 that JSU lost to Southern, 31-30.
Both have ridden new coaches to their most recent success.
Rick Comegy came to Jackson State last season after the Blue Tigers struggled to an 8-26 mark in three years under James Bell. Comegy had won four SIAC titles during a successful ten-year run at Tuskegee. He has posted back-to-back winning seasons and restored some of the luster to the JSU program.
Rob Broadway took over the Grambling program this season after leading North Carolina Central to back-to-back CIAA titles in the final two years of his four-year stay. After winning the 2005 SWAC title, the G-Men stumbled to a 3-8 mark last year under former head coach Melvin Spears.
© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.