SWAC Championship
Game:
Hornets Gain Sweet
Revenge and a Conference Title
December 11, 2004
(BIRMINGHAM,
Alabama) - After five seasons of marching to the mountain, the SWAC Eastern
Division can now lay claim to the mountain top.
The Alabama State Hornets defeated the Southern
Jaguars 40-35 to win the 2004 SWAC Football Championship (SCG) and end the SWAC
Western Division hold on the title. The win was a measure of sweet victory for
the team from Montgomery, Alabama as they lost earlier in the season to the
Jaguars in a thrilling 42-41 come-from-behind victory.
For Southern (8-4), Thomas Ricks rushed for 22 times for 120 yards and
two touchdowns. The senior quarterback also completed 27-of-42 passes for 380
yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions - two late in the game during
potentially game-winning drives. Keneen Henderson caught 10 passes for 137
yards while Antonio Overstreet had six catches for 126 yards and three
receiving touchdowns (SCG record).
For Alabama State (10-2), Tavaris Jackson rushed 15 times for 103 yards
and one touchdown while completing 17-of-34 pass attempts for 275 yards and one
interception. Keldrick Williams notched 19 carries for 64 yards and four
rushing touchdowns (SCG record). Reginald Glover caught five passes for 137 yards.
Southern began the scoring onslaught when Ricks scored on a one-yard
plunge in the first quarter and a 2-yard run in the second. Alabama State
countered with a Robert Randolph 2-yard run with 6:36 remaining in the half. At
the intermission, Southern led 14-7.
After an entertaining halftime performance by both bands, the Jaguars
and Hornets returned to the field to provide the fireworks for the game. Both
teams combined for 58 second-half points and a number of big plays and bigger
hits. SU's Overstreet caught all of his three scores after intermission while
Williams countered with four second-half rushing touchdowns. A 2-yard run with
9:36 remaining in the fourth quarter brought Alabama State with one points
(34-35) while a 3-yard run with 6:23 left in the game gave the Hornets a 40-35
lead. Southern got the ball back twice after that point, but costly
interceptions ended potentially winning drives for the Jaguars.
Statistically, the Jaguars - who entered the game ranked second in
total offense behind the Hornets - totaled 568 yards of offense (188 rushing,
380 passing) while Alabama State gained 457 yards of offense (168 rushing, 289
passing). While the Jaguars led the game statistically, the Hornets were the
more proficient team in the red zone as they scored each of the five times they
reached the 20-yard line. On the other hand, the Jaguars reached the red zone
four times scoring twice
Box Score (Final)
Alabama State vs Southern (Dec 11,
2004 at Birmingham, AL)
Score by
Quarters 1 2 3 4
Score
----------------- -- -- --
-- -----
Alabama
State....... 0 7 14 19
- 40 Record: (10-2)
Southern............ 7 7 14
7 - 35 Record: (8-4)
Scoring
Summary:
1st 05:05
SOUTHERN - RICKS,Thomas 1 yd run (MILLER,Colby kick), 5-75 1:42, ALASTATE 0 - SOUTHERN 7
2nd 07:24
SOUTHERN - RICKS,Thomas 2 yd run (ACKLEY,Breck kick), 2-4 0:31, ALASTATE 0 - SOUTHERN 14
06:36
ALASTATE - RANDOLPH,Robert 2 yd run (JOHNSON,Anthony kick), 4-76 0:48, ALASTATE 7 - SOUTHERN 14
3rd 10:14
SOUTHERN - OVERSTREET,Anto 32 yd pass from RICKS,Thomas (ACKLEY,Breck kick),
4-59 1:07, ALASTATE 7 - SOUTHERN 21
07:11
ALASTATE - WILLIAMS,Keldri 24 yd run (JOHNSON,Anthony kick), 7-65 2:59, ALASTATE
14 - SOUTHERN 21
05:35
SOUTHERN - OVERSTREET,Anto 26 yd pass from RICKS,Thomas (ACKLEY,Breck kick),
7-84 1:25, ALASTATE 14 - SOUTHERN 28
03:33
ALASTATE - JACKSON,Tarvari 1 yd run (JOHNSON,Anthony kick), 4-36 1:46, ALASTATE 21 - SOUTHERN 28
4th 14:22
ALASTATE - WILLIAMS,Keldri 1 yd run (JOHNSON,Anthony kick), 8-60 2:40, ALASTATE 28 - SOUTHERN 28
10:58
SOUTHERN - OVERSTREET,Anto 30 yd pass from RICKS,Thomas (ACKLEY,Breck kick),
7-72 3:17, ALASTATE 28 - SOUTHERN 35
09:36
ALASTATE - WILLIAMS,Keldri 2 yd run (JOHNSON,Anthony kick failed), 4-65 1:16, ALASTATE 34 - SOUTHERN 35
06:23
ALASTATE - WILLIAMS,Keldri 3 yd run (JACKSON,Tarvari pass failed), 6-48 3:13, ALASTATE 40 - SOUTHERN 35
ALASTATE SOUTHERN
FIRST
DOWNS................... 27 37
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............
43-168 35-188
PASSING YDS
(NET)............. 289 380
Passes
Att-Comp-Int........... 35-18-1 42-27-4
TOTAL
OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 78-457 77-568
Fumble
Returns-Yards.......... 1-19 0-0
Punt
Returns-Yards............ 0-0 2-14
Kickoff
Returns-Yards......... 4-88 3-31
Interception Returns-Yards....
4-106 1-52
Punts
(Number-Avg)............ 4-34.5 3-37.0
Fumbles-Lost..................
1-1 3-2
Penalties-Yards...............
7-41 13-101
Possession
Time............... 31:17 27:28
Third-Down
Conversions........ 6 of 14 3 of 8
Fourth-Down
Conversions....... 0 of 1 1 of 1
Red-Zone
Scores-Chances....... 5-5 2-4
Sacks By:
Number-Yards........ 1-4 1-15
RUSHING:
Alabama State-JACKSON,Tarvari 15-103; WILLIAMS,Keldri 19-64;
RANDOLPH,Robert 4-3; CARTER,Lee 1-1; Team 3-minus 1; LEWIS,Deon 1-minus
2.
Southern-RICKS,Thomas 22-120; HERBERT,Devin 8-43; ROSE,Bobby 3-22;
ADAMS,Steel
2-3.
PASSING:
Alabama State-JACKSON,Tarvari 17-34-1-275; HARRIS,Clayton 1-1-0-14.
Southern-RICKS,Thomas 27-42-4-380.
RECEIVING:
Alabama State-GLOVER,Reginald 5-137; ROBINSON,Alvanc 5-54;
HARRIS,Clayton 4-42; HOFFMAN,Lorenzo 2-22; PECK,Jay 1-20;
JACKSON,Tarvari 1-14.
Southern-HENDERSON,Kenee 10-137; OVERSTREET,Anto 6-126; HERBERT,Devin
5-38;
BRYANT,Emile 2-18; LANDRY,Gerard 1-28; VERNON,James 1-22;
SHELMIRE,Dedric 1-11;
TAYLOR,Rogers 1-0.
INTERCEPTIONS: Alabama State-GRESHAM,Billy 1-42; DUPUY,Chris 1-26;
JOHNSON,Jamol
1-37;
DILLON,Rock 1-1. Southern-TREAUDO,Ahmad 1-52.
FUMBLES:
Alabama State-JACKSON,Tarvari 1-1. Southern-RICKS,Thomas 1-0;
ADAMS,Steel
1-1; ROSE,Bobby 1-1.
Stadium:
Legion Field Attendance: 22327
Kickoff
time: 1:05pm End of Game: 4:45
pm Total elapsed time: 3:40
Officials:
Referee: Harold Cooper; Umpire: William Lee; Linesman: Rudolph Bracey;
Line judge:
R. Tankersley; Back judge: Lincoln Webber; Field judge: Dean Waite;
Side judge:
B.J. Hicks; Scorer: ONNIDAN GROUP;
Temperature: 47 deg Wind:
mild Weather: Cloudy and Cool
Off. MVP -
#7 Tavaris Jackson (ALST)
Def. MVP -
#3 Travis Logan (ALST)
SACKS
(UA-A): Alabama State-WATKINS,Jeremy 1-0. Southern-PAYTON,Aandre' 0-1;
CONNER,Keshawn 0-1.
TACKLES
(UA-A): Alabama State-LOGAN,Travis 9-4; LEWIS,Deon 5-7; AVERETT,Brandon
4-5;
GRESHAM,Billy 4-4; DUPUY,Chris 5-1; COLE,Myricks 0-5; WATKINS,Jeremy 2-1;
DILLON,Rock
2-1; SEVERE,Jeff 2-1; BREWER,Fred 2-1; FRAZIER,Kerry 2-0;
SCREEN,Melvin 1-1; URQUHART,Quento 1-0; NAGEL,Carey 1-0; TONICO,Greg
1-0;
JOHNSON,Jamol 1-0; JACKSON,Tarvari 1-0; PARHAM,Jimmy 0-1; PECK,Jay 0-1;
ABRAMS,Jataviou
0-1; CURRY,Xavier 0-1; COLEMAN,Bobby 0-1. Southern-MORGAN,Tarus
4-8;
ALGERE,Edgar 4-4; PHILLIPS,Victor 6-1; BRIDGES,Jarvis 4-2; HURST,Darryl
2-3;
WALLACE,Gabe 2-3; PAYTON,Aandre' 2-2; GETTRIDGE,Rene' 1-3; TREAUDO,Ahmad
3-0;
JONES,Deshawn 1-2; JONES,Donnie 2-0; RICKS,Thomas 2-0; JOHNSON,Rayland 1-1;
THIERRY,Jacobi 1-0; EXPOSE,Don 1-0; SHELMIRE,Dedric 1-0; HAMMOND,Darwon
1-0;
TAYLOR,Rogers 1-0; DUHART,Danard 1-0; CONNER,Keshawn 0-1; LEMONS,Charles
0-1;
BRAZIL,LaDerric 0-1.
Game
Starters:
Alabama
State
Southern
POS ## OFFENSE POS
## OFFENSE
LT 68 WILKERSON,Landi LT 75 SMITH,Myniya
LG 65 BENEBY,Ryan LG
65 WELLS,Lunda
C 51 NAGEL,Carey C
66 GERARD,Lance
RG 70 BRADFORD,Antoni RG 79 SAULSBY,Thomas
RT 77 SCONIERS,Nathan RT 63 THIERRY,Jacobi
TE 8
ALFORD,Jarod
TE 82 SHELMIRE,Dedric
WR
21 GLOVER,Reginald
WR 83 OVERSTREET,Anto
WR 87 HARRIS,Clayton WR
4 VERNON,James
FB 32 CARTER,Lee WR
13 TURNER,Albert
RB 2
WILLIAMS,Keldri
QB 14 RICKS,Thomas
QB 7
JACKSON,Tarvari
RB 25 HERBERT,Devin
POS ## DEFENSE POS
## DEFENSE
LE 99 COLE,Myricks LE
93 GETTRIDGE,Rene'
LT 90 PARHAM,Jimmy LT
60 DAVIS,Perry
RT 71 JOHNSON,Jamol RT 95
LEMONS,Charles
RE 58 FRAZIER,Kerry RE 92
JOHNSON,Rayland
SLB 47 DILLON,Rock SLB
54 MORGAN,Tarus
MLB 53 GRESHAM,Billy WLB 56
ALGERE,Edgar
WLB 33 DUPUY,Chris LB
58 HURST,Darryl
CB 25 AVERETT,Brandon LCB 30 BRIDGES,Jarvis
FS 41 LEWIS,Deon RCB
19 TREAUDO,Ahmad
ROV 3
LOGAN,Travis FS
34 PHILLIPS,Victor
CB 18 SCREEN,Melvin SS 23
WALLACE,Gabe
