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Showdowns loom in SWAC and SIAC
LUT WILLIAMS 
SWAC East Division leader Jackson State (4-1, 3-1 SWAC E) hosts defending SWAC champ, current West Division leader and BCSP #1 Grambling State (5-0, 3-0 SWAC W) Saturday (6:30 p.m., CST) in a possible preview of the Dec. 1, SWAC Championship Game. In Alabama, defending black college national champion and SIAC champ Tuskegee (4-1, 1-1 SIAC) hosts Fort Valley State (6-1, 5-0 SIAC), currently on top of the conference standings, at 1:30 p.m., at Alumni Stadium. Both games match traditional conference rivals who are perennial contenders for their respective league titles. And both games last year had some major drama. Grambling State
En route to their uncharacteristic 7-4 finish last year, Jackson State was felled by a 30-yard field goal from Grambling placekicker Lawrence Richmond with :08 to play that gave the G-Men a 33-30 victory. It was the second of three losses in four games that knocked the Tigers out of last year's East Division race. So revenge will be on their minds this time around. Grambling holds a 28-20-1 edge in the historic series that has seen some of the greatest black college players of all time go against each other. Saturday's matchup will feature a few more. Grambling linebacker Robert Taylor is regarded by his coach, Doug Williams, as the best pro prospect in the SWAC. Taylor is the stalwart of a Tiger defense that ranks sixth nationally against the run and 20th overall. On offense, Grambling is led by athletic quarterback Randy Hymes, who has completed 60 of his 122 passes (49.2%) for 934 yards (186.8 ypg.) and seven touchdowns. Hymes has thrown three interceptions. Running back Brad Hill has become the main workhouse of the offense, leading the conference and placing 16th in the nation (I-AA) averaging 126 yards per game (5.21 per carry). Ellis Spears has been Hymes' main target hauling in 22 passes in the five games, averaging 22.5 yards per catch, 99.4 yards per game. JSU counters with the one of the nation's top passing and receiving combinations in sophomore Robert Kent and converted QB T. C. Taylor. The two have hooked up for 36 receptions and nine TDs in five games. Kent leads the nation in TD passes (19) and averages 349 passing yards per contest while Taylor is fifth on the receiving charts (121.8 ypg.) PREDICTION: The JSU offense will meet its match in the GSU defense but the
home-field advantage will give them the edge. Jackson State turns the tables and
wins, 33-30. Fort Valley State
Fort Valley State was knocked out of last year's SIAC championship picture following a controversial 38-35 home loss to the Golden Tigers and went on to drop two more games to end the season at 7-4. That swoon kept the Wildcats out of the Div. II playoffs for the first time in three years. Against Tuskegee, after trailing 35-14 at the half and 38-21 after three quarters, the Wildcats scored twice in the final period, the last coming with 1:23 left to pull within 38-35. They then recovered an on-sides kick and drove for what they thought was the winning score with :10 left only to have the TD wiped out by a holding penalty. Their final play ended in an interception. FVSU coach Kent Schoolfield was so incensed by the outcome that he sent the film to the conference office for review. While upholding the decision, Commissioner Robert Vowels did take a closer look at how games were officiated. Which brings us to this year. To say this game will be spirited would be an understatement. Like Morehouse coach Anthony Jones, who engineered an upset of Tuskegee last week, no game is likely bigger to Schoolfield than this one. His Wildcats played last week against Clark-Atlanta minus rushing star Orlando Wiley, who leads the conference with 162.7 rushing yards per game and 12 touchdowns. He was replaced in the line-up by bruising fullback Duron Croson who rambled for 183 yards and a TD against the Panthers. Tuskegee is coming off their first loss since the end of the 1999 season, last weekend's 14-3 shocker to Morehouse which ended a 16-game winning streak. They played much of the game with a subpar Aaron James, the senior quarterback who has led the Golden Tigers to a 35-5 mark in his career. James was used sparingly against Morehouse because of a pulled groin but is expected to start against FVSU. PREDICTION: Another down-to-the-wire affair with special teams play and injuries figuring prominently in the outcome. The Wildcats will get their revenge, 26-24. © 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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