Jaguar Football Notes


Re: Jaguar Notes

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Re: Jaguar Notes

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Jaguars find way to opening win

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 3, 2006


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The victory still counts just as one. But watching this young Southern team, with a mere six senior starters, celebrate a one-point squeaker over Bethune-Cookman College, there was a sense there was something more going on.

The team that took its lumps learning to play last season looks like the team ready to take the big stride — learning, and showing how, to win.

“We stuck it out,” cornerback Michael Williams said. “We played with one heartbeat.”

Stamping the 30-29 victory, J.C. Lewis threw for 271 yards and four touchdowns, including the 2-yard game-winner to tight end Evan Alexander with 7:34 remaining, and the passing game overcame the Jaguars’ non-existent running game in the 53rd Gateway Classic on Saturday night in Alltell Stadium.
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Advocate staff photo by MARK SALTZ
Southern’s Gerard Landry breaks loose in the first half of Saturday’s game against Bethune-Cookman.
 



Re: Jaguar Notes

SU defense, Lewis leads Jags to 30-29 win over BCC

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Southern Jaguars sophomore defensive back Marcus Wilkerson wraps up Bethune-Cookman running back Eric Weems for an unassited 18 yard tackle for loss during the Jaguars' 30-29 victory over the Wildcats on Saturday, September 2, 2006 at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Wilkerson contributed three tackles and a pass break up during the Jaguars win on Saturday night.

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Southern University defensive back Jarmaul George breaks up a pass intended for Bethune-Cookman's Paul Neufville (85) during Saturday night's game at Alltel Stadium.

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Jaguars' junior wideout Gerard Landry concentrates as he hauls in a pass in the end zone from rs-junior quarterback J.C. Lewis in the third quarter. Despite staying inbounds, Landry was called for offensive passing interference. Landry finished Saturday night's game with five receptions for 110 yards and one touchdown.

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Jaguars' defensive captain Michael Williams celebrates after stopping Bethune-Cookman quarterback Jimmie Russell's run on the option-keeper for a three-yard loss. Williams, a pre-season all-SWAC defender, finished Saturday's games with seven tackles, a fumble recovery, and a pass break up.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Southern?s Ackley settles into expanded role

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By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 5, 2006


Senior Breck Ackley has been around long enough to become Southern?s all-time leading scorer.
But this felt strange.

?When I got back there for the punt, I realized I was that far back,? Ackley said. ?It was a little weird seeing a new formation like that.?
After three years of kicking the ball off the ground, either on kickoffs or field goals and PATs, Ackley was punting again Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla., as the Jaguars beat Bethune-Cookman College 30-29.

?It felt like I was a freshman out there again,? said Ackley, whose last punts, in a real game, came as a senior at Lagrange High in Lake Charles in November 2002.

His first two collegiate punts were shanks: 23 and 26 yards. However, the next four, including two standing near the goal line, went for 42, 43, 40 and 46 yards.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Valley offense MIA vs. UAPB

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 5, 2006


What happened to MississippiValleyState?s offense?

Valley senior quarterback Aries Nelson, the Southwestern Athletic Conference?s preseason offensive player of the year, was a mere 10-for-29 (34.5 percent) for 186 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 10-0 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday in Chicago.

Valley hadn?t scored that little since Nelson?s first year with the program, when the Delta Devils lost 25-10 at eventual SWAC champion AlabamaState in their 2004 season finale. Nelson was 10-for-25 for 101 yards in that game.

No matter what happened, Southern head coach Pete Richardson is counting on nothing but the best from Nelson and Co. as the Jaguars stage their home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday in A.W. Mumford Stadium.

?Nelson killed us last year,? Richardson said. ?He came back and took the game away from us.?

Nelson threw for 353 yards and one touchdown and led Valley to 21 fourth-quarter points as the Delta Devils overcame an 11-point deficit to beat Southern 31-28 a year ago.

UAPB found the right formula Saturday.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Southern's Lewis, LSU's Zenon earn LSWA honors

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Southern University junior quarterback JC Lewis and LSU junior cornerback Jonathan Zenon were named Players of the Week by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

Lewis, from Walnut Creek, Calif., completed 63 percent of his passes in a 30-29 victory over Bethune-Cookman in a game played in Jacksonville, Fla.

Lewis went 24-of-38 for 271 yards and four touchdowns.

Zenon, from Breaux Bridge, had two interceptions including one returned 20 yards for a first quarter touchdown return in LSU's 45-3 win over Louisiana-Lafayette. His other interception came late in the third quarter deep in LSU territory and he also had three tackles.


State college football sports information offices nominate players for the weekly honor and a committee of LSWA members from throughout the state makes the selections.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Schiefelbein: Young SU vs. veteran Valley on the Bluff

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 7, 2006

Two teams at different junctures of their maturity will meet at 7 p.m. Saturday in A.W. Mumford Stadium.

On the east side, veteran Mississippi Valley State (1-0, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) will gather. The Delta Devils have been building to this season, fashioning themselves from 2-9 in 2004 to 6-5 last season to now a contender for the Eastern Division title.

On the west side, Southern (1-0) will stand. The young Jaguars are in transition, with a sophomore and a junior as captains and a mere five senior starters (one of those, defensive end Lionel Howard has an ankle injury) on both sides. Last season, SU went 4-5, the first losing mark in 13 years under Pete Richardson, but, perhaps as a nod of respect to Richardson, was chosen as the Western Division favorite this season.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

SU bracing for air assault from MVSU

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 7, 2006


Last week?s opponent and this week?s opponent for Southern share one common aspect: an offense spearheaded and dominated by a dynamic quarterback.

But MississippiValleyState?s Aries Nelson, at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, is an entirely different player, running a vastly different spread-oriented offense, than Bethune-CookmanCollege?s Jimmie Russell, at 5-9, 175, and the Wildcats? Wyatt-bone option attack.

Nelson, the Southwestern Athletic Conference?s preseason offensive player of the year, is the challenge as Southern (1-0) stages its home and SWAC opener at 7 p.m. Saturday in A.W. Mumford Stadium.

?It?s going to be a different type of football game than the previous week,? Southern coach Pete Richardson said.

?Last week, we had to be concerned about ball control. This week, they?re going to throw the football. The dynamics of the game will change a great deal.?
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Nelson, Totten ready to end with bang

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 8, 2006


They will part ways when this season ends, the quarterback and his coach.

Mississippi Valley State quarterback Aries Nelson and Valley coach Willie Totten have been breaking down film, getting on buses and sharing all there is to football season after football season dating back to 1998.

This is their last, best shot together to go out on top.

Back in ’98, Totten was the head coach at East Side High in Cleveland, Miss., and Nelson a freshman with skills so obviously suited to Totten’s plans to ditch the school’s option offense in favor of a spread passing game. Totten started the kid and began a long relationship.

“I’ve seen him grow. As a ninth-grader to now,” Totten said.

Though Totten returned to his alma mater in 2000 (and became head coach in 2001) and Nelson went on to Mississippi State in 2002, they were reunited in late August 2004, when Nelson, slipping from second to third on the depth chart in preseason camp, wanted a fresh start.

“I knew I where I was going all along when I left Starkville (Miss.),” Nelson said. “In life, I’m not scared to try anything one time. If I had to do it all again, I’d do it all again the same way.”
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

SU defenders might be out again

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 8, 2006


As an early season showdown with MississippiValleyState?s high-powered offense looms Saturday, the status of two projected defensive starters for Southern is still in limbo and another starter likely won?t play.

As of Thursday afternoon, SU coach Pete Richardson had not gotten confirmation, one way or the other, on the eligibility of linebacker Maurice Runnels or defensive tackle Ricky Nevers. Both seniors did not make the trip to Jacksonville, Fla., where SU beat Bethune-CookmanCollege 30-29 Saturday.

If the two aren?t cleared today, they won?t be able to play at 7 p.m. Saturday, when the Jaguars stage their home and Southwestern Athletic Conference opener against Valley (1-0, 1-0 SWAC).
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Lands steps up for Southern

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 9, 2006


The last time Vince Lands played defense in a football game was when he was a senior at Glen Oaks High in 2003. So, the game felt a little different Saturday, when he started for the first time. No doubt.

“I learned the speed of the game changed a whole lot,” Lands said. “You can condition yourself for the whole summer, but nothing can prepare you for that first snap and going through the whole game. You just have to get used to that.”

By game’s end, he had done all a coach can ask of him. He had played well, and he put every ounce of his being out there.

“For his first start at defensive end, he laid it all out on the field,” Southern head coach Pete Richardson said. “In fact, we almost had to take him to the hospital after the game because of dehydration.”
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

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Southern takes down Valley


By JOE SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 10, 2006


Southern quarterback J.C. Lewis threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns and Southern scored a huge showdown victory with Mississippi Valley State 31-14 Saturday night at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

The Jaguars (2-0, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) had a slim 17-14 halftime advantage, but the defense shut down Valley quarterback Aries Nelson, the SWAC?s preseason offensive player of the year. Plus, the offense cashed in on two big plays for touchdowns.

Nelson was 15 for 31 for 142 yards and two interceptions, both in the second half.

?We?ve grown up a lot,? sophomore cornerback Michael Williams said. ?We stepped it up as a defense, did what we had to do.?

Southern wide receiver Juamorris Stewart scored on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Lewis on a third-and-8 play to give the Jaguars a 24-14 lead with 10:42 left in the third quarter.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Young Jaguars show future could be now

By JOE SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 11, 2006


Sixty minutes later, the confidence continues to grow for a Southern football team with only a handful of senior starters.

Saturday, the young guys showed they could win an early season Southwestern Athletic Conference showdown, hammered by a defensive effort that shut down Mississippi Valley State?s explosive offense in a 31-14 victory at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

A week earlier, these Jaguars got the oomph that comes with a season-opening win, punctuated by making all the big plays to find a way to win in the fourth quarter, 30-29 over Bethune-Cookman College in Jacksonville, Fla.

Now, the team with a future is starting to show that future can possibly be now.

These were the games Southern didn?t win a year ago. This is the kind of start SU hasn?t had in a few seasons.

Southern is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2003, when the Jaguars went 12-1 and won the Southwestern Athletic
Conference and black college national titles. But even they aren?t going to get carried away with comparisons, just yet.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Lewis putting up gaudy numbers

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 12, 2006


Let?s say Southern didn?t have two games canceled in the wake of hurricanes last season. In that case, how would the numbers for quarterback J.C. Lewis look after a full season of 11 games?

So, take his 217-for-342 for 2,496 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions in nine games last season with his 43-for-71 for 558 yards, seven TDs and no interceptions through two games this season.

That totals to 260-for-413 (62.95 percent) with 3,054 yards, 26 TDs and seven interceptions.

A season like that would rank as the second best in school history in both yards and touchdowns.

Only Quincy Richard, with 3,430 yards and 33 touchdowns (and 15 interceptions), in 2003 had more. But consider: Richard had 13 games that season.

?He?s just really evolved into the kind of player who is fun to coach,? Southern offensive coordinator David Oliver said. ?The team rallies around him. The fans rally around him. They see what kind of player he is. He never gets rattled. He understands the offense inside and out.?
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Advice pays off for Southern's Malveaux

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 12, 2006


The best advice Southern linebacker Johnathan Malveaux has gotten so far came from an opponent who picked him up and dropped him last season, when he was a true freshman.

“‘Little man, you better get in the weight room,’” Malveaux remembered. “They were picking me up and tossing me, just slamming me. Every time I go in the weight room, I always think about that.”

Malveaux was strong a year ago, just high school strong, not college strong.

“They handled him a little rough, but he took heed to it,” Southern defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Terrence Graves said. “He saw, if he wanted to really be successful on this level, he had to get bigger and stronger.”

Malveaux, a dean’s list student, doesn’t need to be told twice. He’s leaner and stronger this season, tapering and structuring his frame even more.
 



Re: Jaguar Notes

Fiyah said:
Are you getting old or just not reading your own post......

You posted this one twice........:what:


Of course I'm getting old but that ain't got nuthin to do with price..........tea..........china.

Maybe the browser screwed up. :idea: Anyhoo you're the mod do your job.:p
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Jaguars' Stewart 'making progress'

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 14, 2006


The celebration for Southern University freshman wide receiver Juamorris Stewart’s first touchdown catch since November 2004 was right to the point: a finger raised to the sky.

“All you can do is thank Him,” Stewart said of his third-quarter 65-yarder that helped SU pull away for a 31-14 win over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday. “I’ve been through a long process. From Day 1, I’ve always said, when I score my first touchdown I’m going to thank Him first.”

Stewart hadn’t played football or even practiced the game for an entire year after a debacle of arriving and quickly leaving Southern Miss and then the ensuing transfer process.

A two-time Class 4A All-State selection and a member of The Advocate’s Super Dozen honorable mention in 2005, Stewart was unhappy with being moved to linebacker, a position he had never played before, after reporting to USM. Stewart transferred to SU last year but did not complete a semester at the school until the spring.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

SU trying to change poor start scenariob

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 14, 2006


When the clock reads 0:00, either at halftime or, more importantly, at game’s end, Southern has been ahead so far this season.

The thing is, the last time the Jaguars were off to a 2-0 start, back in that amazing 2003 season, that team made a habit of taking the opening possession, scoring — touchdowns, more often than not — and changing the whole tempo of a game.

Teams that wanted to hold the ball and shorten the game against that high-powered offense instead had to chase points and only one team that year, Alcorn State, ever caught those Jaguars, who were 12-1 and won games by an average of 25 points.

For the first six quarters this season, Southern has been in see-saw games. What’s more, SU has gotten the ball first both times and failed to score, while the opponent has looked impressive in scoring with its first touch.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

SU linebacker champing at the bit after getting cleared

B JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 14, 2006


Southern senior linebacker Maurice Runnels has his final chance again.

Runnels had his eligibility cleared Wednesday morning.

That came as a huge relief to Runnels, who had feared his career could be over after a mere two games, both last season.

“It’s a blessing to be back,” Runnels said. “I was praying every day. Just give me a yes or no answer.”

With their eligibility not confirmed, Runnels and senior defensive end Ricky Nevers were kept from traveling to the team’s season opener, a 30-29 win over Bethune-Cookman College in Jacksonville, Fla.

While Nevers got clearance late last week and played Saturday in a 31-14 home victory over Mississippi Valley State, Runnels’ status remained in limbo.

That changed Wednesday morning when he got a note during class telling him to go see the school’s NCAA compliance personnel afterward.
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

SU to increase security

Changes follow fatal shooting


By KIMBERLY VETTER
Advocate staff writer
Published: Sep 14, 2006


Southern University fans will have to get to home football games earlier, and people who watch from outside A.W. Mumford Stadium will have to buy a ticket or go elsewhere, university officials said Wednesday.

Flanked by representatives from local law enforcement agencies, Southern Chancellor Edward Jackson said the school will increase security at its football games in light of a Saturday shooting that left a 59-year-old Port Allen man dead.

?Even though this didn?t happen on campus, it could have,? Jackson said. ?The potential is there.?

Every person who enters the stadium for a football game will walk through a metal detector and all bags and purses will be searched, he said.

In addition, tailgaters will not be allowed in the south end zone, no loiterers will be allowed around the stadium and people who watch the game from the stadium?s perimeters will be sent home, he said.

Between 200 people and 300 people congregate outside the stadium during games, Jackson said, adding that the clusters of 10 to 20 men and women could be ?a problem waiting to happen.?
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

?Only the Lord knows how it feels?

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Sep 17, 2006


HOUSTON ? Down 14 points and with Southern inside its red zone with more than five minutes to play, Prairie View pushed back not just Southern, but history itself, Saturday at Darrell Tully Stadium.

Fumbles on Southern?s next two offensive snaps set up two comeback touchdowns and the Panthers beat SU 26-23 in overtime for their first victory over the powerhouse Jaguars since 1971.

Arnell Fontentot ran the ball around the right side from 14 yards out for the winning touchdown, then he turned around, folded his arms in triumph and watched his teammates go bonkers. Fontenot?s 3-yard touchdown plunge, on a fourth-and-2, forced overtime with 18 seconds remaining in regulation.

?Words can?t much explain it,? Fontenot said of the feeling that passed through him as he blazed across the goal line untouched.
 
SU loses momentum.......

..........after embarrassing loss!!

http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/southern/3940536.html?index=1&c=y


Chalk all of this away as youthful inexperience, the growing pains of a team still learning how to win? The young Jaguars, in the first game when the opponent didn?t and couldn?t match them score for score, don?t know how to execute when each drive doesn?t seem as critical, don?t know how to close out foes?

If the answer to those is yes, then dismiss the win over Bethune-Cookman as a fluke uptick of youth as well.

Or is this another watermark for a program that has clearly slipped this decade, save for a magical 2003 run and a string of fourth-quarter miracles in 2004? Are the glory years way in the past for the Pete Richardson era?
 
Re: Jaguar Notes

Schiefelbein: SU loses momentum
HOUSTON ? What?s worse? Being the first Southern team to lose to Prairie View since 1971? Or losing the way the Jaguars did Saturday? Take your pick. Each answer carries its own weight of embarrassment, disappointment and disgust. The momentum from Southern opening with two victories is gone, wiped out in the final six minutes when the Jaguars, on the Prairie View 15-yard line and up by 14 points, fumbled twice on their next two snaps, gave up subsequent touchdowns and lost 26-23 in overtime at Darrell Tully Stadium. Lessening the embarrassment is the fact Prairie View has made strong strides as a program in three seasons under Henry Frazier III. However, in the matchup Saturday, this was a team Southern should have soundly defeated, and the Jaguars had more than enough chances to rack up another blowout in the series.
 
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