Late Rally by Hornets Falls Short

by WAKA Action 8 News

 MONTGOMERY – Alabama State made a late rush scoring three fourth quarter touchdowns, but it was not enough as the Hornets fell 45-34 to Southern.
 
“Almost is just not good enough,” Head Coach Brian Jenkins said.  “It really bothers me because I really thought we could win that ball game. I’m really upset with this team’s self-inflicted wounds.  The fumble and not getting off the field on third downs, you just can’t do that against good teams like Southern.”
 
“First of all let me say my hat goes off to Southern.  We played a tremendously physical ball club.  They are a first class team with Coach Odum.  Their guys know how to win.  They showed that tonight and it’s something we have to learn.”
 
With ASU (2-4/2-3 SWAC) trailing 38-14 senior Daniel Duhart entered the game in the fourth quarter and promptly threw three touchdown passes as ASU scored 20 points, but fell short in the comeback bid.
 
There were two major reasons the Hornets could not complete the comeback and that was due to Southern’s quarterback Austin Howard and wide receiver Willie Quinn.
 
Howard completed 33 of his 45 passes for 355 yards and four scores while Quinn was on the receiving end of 12 of those passes for 141 yards.
 
Neither team could run the ball as Southern (3-2/3-0 SWAC) entered the game with the league’s leading rusher in Lenard Tillery.  The Hornets held him to 55 yards on 17 carries and held the Jags to only 59 yards on 30 carries.
 
For two games prior to this game, the Hornets had surpassed 300 yards rushing, but Southern made it hard on the Hornets rushing game.  The Hornets managed to finish with 67 rushing yards on 33 carries.
 
Ellis Richardson started the game at quarterback and had solid numbers completing 15 of 25 for 217 yards and a score.  Duhart built on those numbers completing 12 of his 14 passes for 125 yards and the three scores.
 
Khalid Thomas had another solid all-around game, but his main contribution came as a pass receiver where he caught a career-high eight passes for another career-high 112 yards.
 
Jamir Hannah had four receptions and two of those were touchdowns.  Ellis Anderson and Brandon Barnes also had touchdown receptions.  Stanley Robinson had the lone rushing touchdown from six yards out in the third quarter.
 
“I’m proud of my guys for the way they bounced back in the fourth quarter,” Jenkins said.  “We made some adjustments and they executed it.  I think it was a closer ball game than what people may think.  They had 75 plays for 414 yards and we had 72 plays for 409.  So if anyone is wondering if we can play with some of top teams we can.”
 
“I think it comes down to the turnover.  We had a fumble early in the ball game and that gave them a 14-point swing and we had to play from behind.  It’s hard to do that against good, tough winning ball teams like Southern University.  I think it’s a lesson learned, but no excuses we just didn’t play well enough to win.”
 
Defensively Dominic Jackson had a game and career-high 12 stops.  Bradley Streetfinished with nine and Kourtney Berry had eight.  It was the first time this season Berry did not register double-digits in tackles.
 
The Jags took a 17-0 lead into halftime behind the passing of Howard who completed 14 of his 23 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown. 
 
His touchdown pass was a seven yarder to Dillon Beard to give the Jags a 7-0 lead.  Southern’s other scored came on a two yard run from Howard. Both touchdowns came in the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter Southern extended their lead to 17-0 when Greg Pittman kicked a 33 yard field goal.
 
ASU will have a short week to prepare for their next game, a Thursday night game Oct. 15 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.  The game will be ASU’s fourth game in 20 days and is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. and will be shown on ESPNU.