Jackson State takes SWAC title
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Two fourth quarter touchdowns allowed Jackson State to weather a furious second half comeback and knock off Grambling State 42-31 and secure its first SWAC gridiron championship in 11 years at the league's ninth title game in Birmingham Saturday.
A largely JSU crowd of 43,236 watched JSU's 28-12 halftime lead disappear as Grambling scored on two Brandon Landers' touchdown throws and two successful two-point conversions to tie the score at 28 with 9:14 left in the third quarter. The G-Men (8-4) then took the lead 31-28 on Tim Manuel's 26-yard field goal 1:14 before the end of the period.
But elusive JSU QB Jimmy Oliver (16-30-1, 249 yards, 3 TDs), named the game's outstanding offensive player, and running back Lavarius Giles (23 carries, 117 yards, 2 TDs) rescued the Tigers producing touchdowns early in the fourth quarter while the defense shut out Grambling in the final stanza
The championship, JSU's first since 1996 and its 16th overall, comes under head coach Rick Comegy and vaults the once-proud JSU program back into the SWAC spotlight in just his second year on the job .
"This was special," said Comegy, who won four SIAC titles and a couple of black college national championships during a ten-year run at NCAA Div. II Tuskegee. "This is the biggest win in my career because its on a higher level and because of all the tradition that Jackson State has."
Grambling drew first blood capitalizing on DB DeMichael Dizer's interception during JSU's first possession to score on Frank Warren's one-yard run. Later in the period, Oliver tied the score capping a 12-play, 73-yard drive with a 11-yard scoring toss to Jaymar Johnson. On GSU's second play from scrimmage following the kickoff, JSU DB Dominique Johnson picked off Grambling QB Brandon Landers and ran untouched into the end zone to put JSU up 14-7.
Grambling got a safety late in the quarter and an early second quarter Tim Manuel field goal to pull within 14-12. JSU responded covering 79 yards in seven plays capped by Oliver's 17-yard TD pass to Christopher Johnson that came at the end of a dazzling display of scrambling.
JSU linebacker Marcellus Speaks intercepted Landers on the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff setting up Giles' three-yard run that put the J-Men up 28-12 going into halftime.
Landers (18-38-3, 229 yards) connected on a 24-yard scoring pass to Nick Lewis and a 44-yarder to Tim Abney that put GSU (8-4) up 31-28 entering the final stanza.
Oliver got the lead right back for JSU hitting Terrance Jones on a 15-yard scoring pass despite a Grambling defender being draped around his legs. The touchdown capped a 7-play, 74-yard drive. Giles delivered the coup de grace sprinting 54 yards up the middle to paydirt after appearing to be stopped in his own backfield.
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