Alabama A&M Bulldogs have an inside track to the SWAC Championship game on December 12 as they posted a 13-5 victory over the Jackson State Tigers. With the win and the Alcorn State loss to Prairie View A&M, the Bulldogs are now tied with Jackson State for the lead in the eastern division and controls their own destiny with a win over Mississippi Valley State November 21.
The offense struggled early with 7 total yards in the first quarter and the Bulldogs had to depend on the defense to stay in the game, as they held Jackson State to only three offensive points on a 24-yard field goal by Eric Perry in the first half. The Tigers also had a safety in the second quarter of A&M quarterback Deaunte Mason for the first points of the game.
Alabama A&M got its first-1st down of the half with five minutes left in the half and drove down to the Tigers 11-yard line before an incomplete pass and sack set up a third-and- long. Jackson State held, as Kerry Hoskins picked off a Mason pass in the end zone to bring the Buldog scoring opportunity to a halt.
The Bulldogs started off the second half much the way it had been the whole game until that point. Mason dropped back to throw, but it found the hands of Jackson State’s Ryan Rich who returned the ball to the 12-yard line of A&M. The Bulldog defense stepped up again, as Rico Porch snagged a Tiger pass out of the air and raced 64 yards to set the offense up at the 34-yard line of Jackson State.
It took Alabama A&M just over two minutes and five plays to score its first points of the game and take the lead on 20-yard strike to Thomas Harris from Mason. The two-point conversion try failed, as Mason was sacked by a rush of Tiger defenders. Porch got his second interception of the game, but the offense stalled and the Bulldogs settled for a FG attempt that failed as it sailed wide left.
Alabama A&M had its defining and decisive drive on a eight-play, fifty-six yard drive that took 3:01 of the clock in the fourth quarter. On a third-down play, Mason found a crease and broke open for a 15-yard run to take a first down. Ulysses Banks followed with a 12-yard run and a first down, then Mason and Banks had four and three yard runs, respectively, to set up another key third down.
Mason then found Rashad Johnson for a 21-yard strike to set the Bulldogs up with a first-and-goal inside the Jackson State five-yard line. Mason capped of the drive with a 4-yard plunge into the end zone and the PAT by Jeremy Licea set up the final margin. Jackson State only had two more possessions, was forced into a punt and turned the ball over on downs.
With a win Saturday, the Bulldogs can make a return trip to the SWAC Championship game to be held at Legion Field in Birmingham, after a three-year hiatus since their 22-13 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2006.
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