SWAC Preview Continued From Page 5
The soul of Jackson's defense is
the linebacking corps. Charles Ray
Davis and Mario Perry are two of the
league's best. Last year, Davis (8 1/2
sacks) and Perry (SWAC's Freshman
of the Year) were in on 160 tackles.
The secondary will have to
regroup in the absence of All-Ameri
can cornerback Robert Turner, who
(flea in a tragic snooting last spring.
Turner set an NCAA record last year
when he returned four Interceptions for~
touchdowns.
Grambllng
The G-Men are always a threat to
win and the *91 season is no excep
tion. However, legendary coach Eddie
Robinson and crew could be hard
pressed-to^reach the league pent^
house this time around.
? After all, SWAC MVP Walter "Mr.
Touchdown" Dean is gone and so are
wingback Jake Reed and offensive
tackle Raymond "World" Smith, both of
whom were All-Americans. But it
doesn't stop there. The entire defen
sive line has graduated.
Still, all is not lost. QB Shawn Bur
ras will carry the Tigers on the strength
of his rocket launcher of an" arm. As a
junior last year, Burras broke Doug
Williams single season record for *
passing yardage (2,302 yards) and he
also tossed 25 TD passes, ending the
year as SWAC's No. 2 rated passer.
Even with the departure of Dean
and Reed, the G-Men still have gifted
people to haul the load. Look for Dex
ter Butcher and Derrickdfted to
inqrease their productivity now that
they will be guaranteed more minutes
on the field.
Craigory Sam, Billy Norman and
Jarrod Ellis form the*nucleus of the
offensive line. With those three clear
ing the way, Grambling isn't likely to
encounter too many problems putting
points on the board.
All-star linebacker Thomas Griffin
leads a defensive unit that returns
seven starters. Griffin, who recorded
107 tackles last season, is the,
league's top-rated hit man entering4he
'91 grid wars. Robert Pinckney holds
down the fort at tackle and the pres
ence of Charles Williams at strong'
safety helps to solidify the secondary. *
Mississippi Valley State
Coach Larry Dorsey opted to rely
on the friendly skies last ycfer and the
results produced a very surprising 5-6
mark for the Delta Devils.
Valley never shied away from
putting the ball up. They were SWAC's
pass-happiest group a year ago (393
attempts). QB Darryt Cox posted some
credible numbers in nine games ?
completed 49.4 percent of his passes
(95 of 193) for 1,510 yards and 10
TDs.
Wide receiver Jerrell Horner and
tight end Fred Washington were the
prime beneficiaries of Valley's passing
game. Washington (43 catches, 561
yards) led the league in receptions per
game (4.8) and Horner finished up as
the leading pass catcher wjth 51 .
But in spite of the passing yard
numbers, opponents shouldn't be_
lulled into thinking that Valley has a
total disdain for the rushing game.
Ronald Humphrey (795 yards, 8.9 ypc,
4 TDs) is very dependable and was
SWAC's No. 2 rusher behind Gram
bling's Dean last season.
The Deltas have a few heavy-duty
tanks on their offensive line. The front
line of Anthony Foreman, Marvin
Chapman, Ellis Brown, and Keith
Myles averages 273 lbs. per man.
If the Devils are to continue their
ascent, the defense will have to tighten
up. Last year, they were the league's
most generous bunch, allowing 423.6
total yards per game.
But when it comes to defending
the pass, it's a different story. The sec
ondary is the heart of this unit, thanks
to the return of Everett Nicholas (6
interceptions), James Williams (89
tackles) and Ashley Ambrose. Eric
Snow and Stacey Wright are back to
^provide stability at linebacker. In *90,
these two collectively accounted for
105 tackles.
Southern University
Coach Gerald Kimble is hoping
that the third time is a charm and that
better things are in store for his
Jaguars in *91 .
Good fortune was absent last fall
as Southern finished in a three-way tie
for the league basement with Texas
Southern and Alcorn State. The return
of seven starters on both sides of the
ball should help Kimble's team avoid
pitfall this time.
For the Jags to rediscover their
groove, QB Nate Harrisorv must have
ample time to scan the field. That
wasn't the case last season (1,181
yards, only 6 TDs and 15 intercep
tions); ? ?
In order for Harrison to produce up
to his capacities (2,142 passing yards,
17 TDs and 9 interceptions in *89),
Donald Bullock, Ronald Cherry and
Dennis Craig will have to come
through with solid performances in the
trenches.
Defensively, the Jags have a glar
ing deficiency in the secondary. Sean
Wallace is the only experienced DB
returning. The rest of the DB crew is
young and untested. But on the line,
Kelvin Coney (88 tackles) is a proven
commodity and so is Robert Harris.
*
Alcorn State
The Braves are eager to redeem
themselves after taking a deep plunge
last fall when they won just two of nine
games. At the end of the season, Theo
Danzy was dismissed as head coach
and former Jackson State assistant
Cardell Jones has named as Danzy's
successor.
Everything that\could go wrong,
did go wrong for Aldtrn a year ago.
The team couldn't movVthe ball offen
sively (averaged 264.6 total yards,
scored 14.2 pp q). Defensively, thev
weren't much stronger than a Kleenex
(allowing 418.9 total yards and 28.9
PPO).
Offensively, Jones feels he can
put more zip in Alcorn's attack by
going to the passing game. Reginald
Martin (1,503 passing yards, 7 TDs)
_ has a talented pair of receivers to work
with in Cedric Tillman (36 catches, 538
yards) and Torrance Small (23 catches
for 236 yards in five games). Janci
Finkley will handle the rushing chores.
As a freshman, he averaged 6.1 yards
a tote.
On the other side of the line,
linebackers Spurgeon Banyard and Al
Smith are being counted on to lead the
way. Keiver Campbell and Sidney
Felder are seasoned cover guys in the
secondary, but the rest of the crew has
very little game experience.
Texas Southern
Texas Southern is all too aware
that happy beginning^can very easily
become agonizing endings.
After breezing to four straight wins
at the start of last season, coach Wal
ter Highsmith's team performed a seri
ous deep-six manuever, losing their
last seven games.
Attaining consistency is something
that the Tigers will have to master to
prevent a repeat of last season's
relapse. On offense, TSU has its share
of guns, led by a pair of quarterbacks
who saw plenty of action in *90.
Stacy Moore and Ronnie Toliver
provided excitement and productivity
as part-time starters. Together, they
passed for 2,086 yards and 21 TDs.
Toliver started the first half of the sea
son last year ana Moore finished the
second half as the guy in charge.
Going Into the season, it's not cer
tain who will get the starting call. But
regardless of who starts, each QB
knows that he as a quality receiver he
can depend on, Will Moore.
As junior, Moore developed into
one of the league's elite pass catchers
? ? 46 receptions for 701 yards, 9 TDs,?
15.2 ypc.
? ItarllgersJAdlLckL themselves a iot=
of good if they can manage to keep
folk out of the end zone with some reg
ularity. Last fall, they gave up more
points than anybody else on the circuit
(33ppg).
Seven defensive starters return,
with Anthony Wallace (47 tackles)
being touted as the best of the bunch.
Starting all over again is going to
be tough for the Panthers, who return
to the gridiron after the school dropped
football last year because of financial
woes.
Coach Ronald Beard has been
, charged with the task of rebuilding the
Panthers from ground zero. Beard's
revitalization project started during
spring drills when 50 people showed
up for practice. Those 50 will be joineJ
by the 26 who have signed letters-of
intent to play for the Panthers.
PVU is top-heavy with youth. Half
of the players who reported to spring
drills are rookies.
Beard, however, does have an
experienced quarterback. The only
hitch is that he hasn't played since '88.
Kevin Phillips missed the '89 season
due to a fractured ankle, so he's
bound to be rusty. Still, he has previ
ously demonstrated he can handle the
job. When he last played, Phillips hit
on 48 percent of his passes (85 of
1 77) for 935 yards.
Defensively, linebacker Kyle Dou
glas, tackle Thomas Houston and DB
Allen Richardson are expected to pro
vide leadership and experience.
Dan Wesley
Preview
er who will get support from Walt Simmons,
Curt* Davis and Benny Cook.
2 ilMMlfiftflift ?
? IVMylif vWIC?
It's oovious that first-year coach Ricky
Diggs loves to meet challenges headon. He
inherits a team that has been hard pressed to
find its way back to the winning column in
recent years.
But the good news for Diggs is that he has
11 starters on oSense returning.
Gtenny Moore is the marquee performer
at wide receiver. Moore missed most of last
year due to injury. Two years ago, Moore was
V Continued From Page 7
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one of the most brtfant receives in the MEAC
wth41 catches tor 637 yards and 8 TDs.
Nathan Ayers is the team's top returning
running back and Sean Nebon ranks among
the cicuTs best as kickaff return speciaist
The quarterback situation seems to be in
the hands of Orlando Persel who is the only
QB in camp wth any kind of game experience.
Defensively, Matthew Steeple is the best
crt the front iners and Reno Lucas is rugged at
Snebacker. Eddie Ml and Hoiaoe Mrmifieti are
proven vets in the secondary.
?Rolando Simmons