Author : Boaz Roebuck
At 3:00 EST this past Saturday, the Alabama State Hornets hosted Jackson State’s Blue Bengals for a inter-conference matchup. Entering this game, coach Dion Sanders’ and his Blue Bengals were 4-0, and ranked the best team on the HBCU leaderboard. The 3-2 7th ranked Hornets were coming off of a win where they trailed the entirety of the game, until they took the lead in the last 8 minutes. We were set for some electric Historically Black College and University action in Birmingham.
Jackson State began the game with their first possession, as Shedeur Sanders and company drove 32 yards in 9 plays, and turned the ball over subsequently, when they went for it on 4th and 5. After getting the ball from their own 43, Alabama State drove 57 yards down the entirety of the field in 9 plays to make the first strike of the game. It was Kisean Johnson with a 19 yard reception, courtesy of Dematrius Davis who got in the endzone for the Hornets, and after a missed extra point the score was 0-6. The ASU defense stepped up once again on Jackson State’s next drive, as Sam Johnson was forced to punt on 4th and 9 from Jackson State’s own 47. The Hornets offense could not get anything going for them on their next drive, as they were forced to punt to begin the 2nd quarter. Jackson State did not have the ball for long after their defense stepped up big. The Blue Bengals turned it over, after a 2 minute 5 play drive. Jackson State’s defense did not dwindle down on the sideline, as they did not allow the chains to move once, and forced the Hornets punt team to get some action. The Blue Bengals offense kept rolling off of the momentum created by their defense, Shedeur Sanders drove JSU 80 yards in just 8 plays, scoring in dramatic fashion on 3rd and 7 was Willie Gains with a 35 yard touchdown reception, making the score 7-6. The Jackson State defense kept the same dominant look on the next ASU drive, not even allowing a single yard. Primetime’s cadre got the ball back with 5:11 to play in the first half, they drove 71 yards in 10 plays, and capped the drive off with a field goal to stretch their lead to 10-6 before half.
Alabama State’s initial drive out of half was not much to write about; they gained only 18 yards and their dry offensive effort resulted in a punt. Shedeur Sanders started the Blue Bengals first drive out of half with two quick completions, but his third pass of the drive was intercepted by Keenan Isaac. The Hornets put a nice drive together to set Nathanial Eichner up for a 22 yard field goal attempt, however he missed, and the score stayed 10-6 JSU. The next drives for both JSU and ASU resulted in gaining less than 10 yards from scrimmage and punting. The Blue Bengals broke the second half stalemate with a 9 play 86 yard drive, ending with a 25 yard touchdown reception for Kevin Coleman Jr., making the score 17-6. Alabama State attacked right back at the JSU defense, and drove 50 yards in 8 plays, with Jacory Merritt getting a 14 yard rushing touchdown to cap off the drive and the third quarter, making the score 17-12, with a missed two point conversion. The Jacksonville State offense stayed hot as they drove 78 yards in 11 plays, ending with Shedeur Sanders throwing his third touchdown pass of the game, this one to JD Martin, making the score 23-12. Alabama State threw a quick pick on their second play of their next drive. JSU capitalized on the great field position by Gerardo Baeza kicking a 30 yard field goal, increasing the Blue Bengals lead to 26-12. Alabama State’s next drive went nowhere, as they were forced to punt. With only 1:04 left on the clock JSU picked up one first down, dripped the clock, and subsequently won the game with a score of 26-12.
This win for JSU resulted in them keeping the top spot in the HBCU rankings, while Alabama State dropped three spots from 7th to 10th. Shedeur Sanders showed just how well he can lead as only a sophomore in this bout against the Hornets, as he threw for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns. Alabama State’s defense showed how well they can keep up with an offensive powerhouse like JSU, but the Hornets offensive unit could not get any positive consistency on Saturday. That allowed the Blue Bengals to run away with this one, winning with a score of 26-12 in Birmingham.