The Alabama State University Hornets took a tough 38-34 loss on the road against the Jackson State University Tigers. The Tigers drew first blood with quarterback JaCobian Morgan throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Shemar Savage who pushed the Tiger’s lead to 7-0 in the first quarter. The Hornets defense held the Tigers to multiple punts which the Hornets converted later early in the second quarter with a field goal from Andrew Abu-Akel to cut into the Tigers’ lead to make the score 7-3. The Tigers responded with a 62-yard drive down the field that resulted in a field goal from the Tigers to push the lead to 10-3.
The Hornets responded with a 11-play drive going 90 yards down the field that ended in a rushing touchdown by Marcus Harris II to even the game at 10 for both teams. It seemed that the Tigers had a response for everything the Hornets did with the Tigers driving down the field and scoring another touchdown to make the score 17-10 before the half. Before going into halftime the Hornets were able to drive down the field and get into a manageable field goal situation. Andrew Abu-Akel hit the 36-yard field goal with time expiring to go into halftime to make the score 17-13.
To open up the second half quarterback Andrew Body executed a quarterback keeper that really set the tone for the rest of the game. The very next play, Body narrowly avoided multiple sack attempts by the Tigers’ defensive line. Body completed a big pass to one of his favorite targets Jalen Jones to get the ball to the two-yard line. Jamarie Hostzclaw ran it in to give the Hornets their first lead of the game 20-17. Again the Tigers’ response to the Hornets scoring was a touchdown of their own, this time a 24-yard strike from Morgan to Jency Riley, Jr. to take the lead 24-20 Tigers.
After the Tiger touchdown, the game consisted of punts by both teams but a major turning point in the game came after an interception by the Hornet safety Ta’Shaun Sims but the Tigers responded by getting an interception of their own then driving down the field for another touchdown to increase the Tiger lead to 31-20. In the fourth quarter, the Hornets did not give up and responded with a 5 play 75-yard drive with a huge pass to Asa Gregg to put them in the redzone with Body finding Jones for the touchdown pass to cut into the Tiger lead and make the score 31-27. The Tigers looked to be moving the ball down the field and looking to score but Tre Phillips changed the game with a forced fumble recovered by Zaquan Patterson that sent a shock through Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Hostzclaw had a huge 15-yard touchdown run to take the lead over the Tigers 34-31 with 4:36 left in the game that sent Hornet fans into a frenzy. However, quarterback Morgan connected with Nate Rembert on an 18-yard touchdown with 50 seconds remaining in the game to regain the lead 38-34. The Hornets drove down the field with a huge 20-yard passing play coming from Body to Dylan Djete who caught the ball at the 1 yard line of Jackson State.
In the end the Hornets fell short to the Tigers in a hard fought battle and lost the game to a final score of 38-34. Jalil Lenore led the Hornet defense with 15 tackles in the game. On the offensive side, quarterback Body had 349 yards through the air and 93 yards on the ground. Jones led the Hornets’ receivers with six catches for 72 yards and a score, while Djete added 82 yards and Ajai Harrell finished with 66.
Hornets will havethe week off before battling Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University in the Amazon Magic City Classic presented by Coke-Cola on Saturday, Oct. 25. Kickoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. from Historic Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala.
