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BLACK (i l l K
It was the Second Civil War, World
War III, Ali versus Frazier, the Redskins
against the Cowboys, SWACstyle.
^ It was "The Game," Alcorn State
versus Mississippi Valley State in a sab
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Southwestern Athletic Conference and
a berth in the NCAA Division I-AA
playoffs.
It was the battle of the unbeatens in
a clash which featured, as one reporter
described them, the "unstoppable"
MVSU Delta Devils (7-0) and the "immovable"
ASU Braves (6-0).
It was Sunday afternoon at the
Mississippi College Super Bowl, a
i _ game which many members of the
media had called the hioopct ennrfc
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event ever in the state.
It was all of those things and
more....
On Sunday, Nov. 4, 1984, Alcorn
State and Mississippi Valley State
played a football game that easily
ranked as their most important and
most emotional ever.
'it's perhaps the biggest game I've
ever coached," said Alcorn Coach
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Marino Casern before the game. "It's
as big a ball game as you'll ever see,
with prestige, the conference title and
national rankings on the line. It'll be
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iaiiiu^ vcisus iamuy, iriena versus
friend."
Said Archie Cooley, Mississippi
Valley's head coach, during pre-game
week: "This could be the biggest game
in our lives, but we'll do nothing new.
They have to stop us from doing what
we do best and from doing what we
have been doing all year."
Like the words of a biblical sage,
Cooley's prophecy did indeed come to
pass. Before a standing-room-only
crowd of 63,808 boisterous fans, the
potent Valley Air Express, which had
led the world in scoring, averaging 64.1
points per game, and in total offense,
getting an amazing 666.6 total yards
a *.
per ouung, nn turouient air and came
to a crash landing, falling to the
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42=28.
It was a combination of Alcorn
State's nationally No.2-ranked defense
and Mississippi Valley's unranked
defense which proved to be the
deciding factors. The Braves were able
to not only limit MVSU to 28 points.
but held the Delta Devils to 383 yards, .
about half of their usual production.
The Braves' offense, on the other
hand, moved the ball with reckless
abandon, amassing 526 total yards,
their most productive day in decades.
On the very first possession of the
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* Page 14-Novamber, 1984S55SSSKSS
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Alcorn State's Perry Quails churns foi
than 200 yards against pass-happy Mh
Alcorn State ai
the Centui
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HPr y?^""'" VR^
' yardage in The Game of the Century.
)sissippi Valley (photo by Mark Gail).
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?rybody
, By LON
lid Mississippi Valley: They bill
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Rush-happy Quails totaled more
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won
IZA HARDY JR.
ed it as The Game of
owl of black football
-and they were right.
It#*****#*#**##*#***#*###***#!