Jackson Leads Hornets Past Southern
Alabama State 45, Southern 35
(Mobile, AL: Ladd-Peebles Stadium – 24,811 att.)

One of black college’s most recent rivalries continued as Alabama State downed Southern 45-35 in the Gulf Coast Classic.  The teams combined for 970 yards of offense and 11 touchdowns as the top offenses in the conference battled it out in a rematch of the 2004 SWAC Championship Game.

In the game, Southern totaled 420 total offensive yards (118 rush, 302 pass) while Alabama State gained 550 offensive yards (205 rush, 345 pass) in one of the highest offensive outputs in the SWAC this season.

Alabama State’s Tarvaris Jackson rushed 13 times for 89 yards and two touchdowns while completing 24-of-36 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns (434 total offense yards and five touchdowns accounted for).  Receiver Alvance Robinson caught nine passes for 181 yards and a score while Lorenzo Hoffman had two touchdown receptions.  Keldrick Williams had 16 carries for 72 yards in the game.

For Southern, Larry Nicholls had a team-high 64 rushing yards on 11 carries.  Quarterback Joseph Lewis threw for 302 yards (27-46-0) while rushing for 41.  Southern’s James Vernon caught eight passes for 57 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, Southern’s Michael Williams led all players with 10 tackles (eight solo).  Joe Sykes, Maurice Runnels and Joemaine Spears each had nine stops.  For Alabama State, Demetrius Derico had nine total tackles (eight solo) and two pass breakups.