LORMAN, Miss. – A Travis Hunter interception for touchdown and a costly fumble deep in Braves territory was enough to allow visiting and fifth-ranked Jackson State a 24-13 win over Alcorn in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) "Soul Bowl" showdown on Saturday afternoon at Jack Spinks – Marino Casem Stadium.
A sellout crowd of 31,017 were on hand in Lorman, Mississippi for one of the most anticipated matchups of the season for both squads, as well as the entire conference.
Jackson State (11-0, 8-0 SWAC) opened the scoring in the first quarter, using a 38-yard field goal from Alejandro Mata to go up, 3-0 with 4:19 remaining in the stanza.
Alcorn (5-6, 4-4 SWAC) used defense to get back into the game during the early stages of the second quarter when the Braves sacked All-SWAC quarterback Shedeur Sanders on back-to-back plays to force a punt from the Tigers' Sam Johnson. The Braves were set up with great field position at the Tigers' 39 yard line.
It would take just three plays for the Purple and Gold to get on the board from there as redshirt senior running back
Jarveon Howard punched in his 12th rushing touchdown of the season, putting the Braves up 7-3 following the extra-point from
Noah Kiani.
JSU would answer with defense of their own midway through the quarter, as Alcorn quarterback
Tre Lawrence was strip-sacked at the Braves eight yard line by Justin Ragin. Jeremiah Brown would recover the fumble and rumble to the Braves two yard line, allowing Sy'veon Wilkerson to dash in from there on the ensuing play from scrimmage, putting the Tigers back on top, 10-7.
The lead would swell to 17-7 just before the half when Travis Hunter stepped in front of a Lawrence pass and returned it 44 yards for the score.
The score would stay that way at the break.
On the first drove of the second half, Alcorn marched 65 yards on eight plays and using 3:48 off the clock in allowing Kiani to connect on his sixth consecutive field goal of the campaign. That cut into the deficit, 17-10 with 11:08 remaining in the third quarter.
On just the second play of the fourth quarter, Kiani drilled a 43-yard field goal to chip into the lead even further, 17-13.
For the Minnesota native, the kick represented his fourth field goal made of 40 or more yards on the season.
However, with the Braves seemingly having stopped the Tigers on a long pass incompletion defended by
Keyron Kinsler Jr. on the ensuing Tigers drive, the play was reviewed for just over five minutes – before ultimately overturning an incompletion into a 19-yard toe-dragging touchdown reception by Hunter (his second TD of the afternoon).
The PAT from Mata was good to lift the Tigers to the final 24-13 score.
Despite the loss, the Alcorn defense was able to get Sanders five times on the afternoon – the most he's been sacked in a single game this season. The Braves also limited the Tigers to a season-low 42 yards rushing, in addition to holding the high-scoring JSU offense to zero (0) points in the third quarter – the first time that's happened all season as well.
Jackson State was powered by an 18 for 29 performance on the day by Shedeur Sanders at the quarterback position, finishing with 216 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Wilkerson was held in check with just 63 yards rushing, while Dallas Daniels ended the game with a team-high four catches for 45 yards.
Jurriente Davis has a game-high matching 12 tackles for the Tigers, followed by Aubrey Miller Jr. with 11 tackles.
For Alcorn, it was
Jarveon Howard powering the offense with 96 yards on 28 carries, adding a touchdown to boot. In just his third game at quarterback all season, Lawrence ended the day with 153 yards passing on 8 for 23 and an interception.
Monterio Hunt led all receivers with four catches for 109 yards, while teammate
CJ Bolar added four receptions for 68 yards.
The Braves defense was anchored by redshirt senior
Claudin Cherelus with a game-high tying 12 tackles in what was his final game at Jack Spinks – Marino Casem Stadium on
Senior Appreciation Day for the Braves, including three behind the line and a quarterback sack. Kinsler added nine tackles in his last game for the Purple and Gold, including a forced fumble.
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