Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Dec. 19, 1991, edition 2 / Page 4
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Alabama State finished the regular season at 10-0-1 to win its first-ever SWAC fnnthnli title Cnnnh linuii*m Markham, who was voted SWAC Coach Of The Year for the second straight time, kept his guys focused for the long haul. Here's the story on the regular sea son's final weeks. Alabama State : The was die year of the big stingfor an Alabama State team that encountered few problems in ruling the SWAC. For details on how the Hornets captured the title, please see cover story on page 7. Alcorn State The Braves sent some loud and clear messages around the loop that they are SWAC's team of the future. Quarterback Steve McNair, who was named Offensive Player Of The Year, Freshman Of The Year, and first team all SWAC, was the driving force for Alcorn. McNair ended the season with 2,895 pass ing yards and 24 touchdowns. The rookie proved his mettle over and over again, particularly towards the end of . the year. In a 28-28 tie against Mississippi Valley State, McNair brought his team back from an eight-point deficit with less than two minutes left in the game. He fired a 43 yard scoring strike to Torrance Small, then . hit Avery Thompson with a pass for the two-point conversion to ensure the stale mate. Fullback Mark Merchant was the chief force in the running attack, finishing the game with 90 yards and three TDs. In the season finale, Alcorn assured itself of a second place finish by beating Jackson State, 18-16. McNair completed 16 of 34 passes for 230 yards and touch down passes to Aaron Thompson and Small. Defensively, linebacker Dennis Stevenson led the charge with 10 tackles and two sacks. The defense also blocked a JSU punt that resulted in a safety. . Kurt White's 24-yard field goal in the second half helped Alcorn secure the victo ry. Southern University The Jaguars' 31-30 win over rival Grambling in the Bayou Classic made up for a lot of season-long frustration (see Bayou Classic article on page 3). Prior to that, Southern was in a deep tailspin losing its first three games in November. In a 33-14 loss to Tennessee State, the Jags were sluggish, generating only 174 total offensive yards for the game.4 In the Orange Blossom Classic vs. Florida A&M, it was more a case of wilting in the second half. The Jags had 430 total offensive yards and led 20-10 in the third quarter. But it all went for naught when the Rattlers victimized SU by scoring two TDs over the final 12 minutes of the contest Photo by Mark Gail Tight end Frederick Washington turned in a solid senior season for Mississip pi Valley State. Texas Southern The Tigers made a valiant run that fell short of the mark, losing their final two games by a combined margin of four points. TSU dropped a tearjerker to Jack son State, 13-12 and fell prey to Gram-,. Wing, 30-27. Against JSU, Texas Southern rebound ed in the fourth quarter on Derrick Single ton's 47-yard touchdown pass to Charles Webb. However, Singleton's potential game-winning pass to Will Moore was deflected. The Tigers got a lot of produc tion from the offense with 416 total yards. Bad fortune also accompanied TSU in the narrrow loss to the G-Men. They came back to tie the game at 27-all, before Gram bling bounced back with a late drive that produced the game-winning field goal. Mississippi Valley State November was a month that provided the Delta Devils with three different experi ences. They toppled Prairie View A&M (41 0), tied Alcorn State (28-all) and lost to league champs Alabama State (48-20). Valley won easily over Prairie View as Ashley Ambrose displayed his considerable skills as a defender and kick return specialist Ambrose had eight tackles and two sacks, plus a 50-yard punt return for a TD. Ambrose was voted SWACs top kick returner for this season. In the Alcorn game, Ronald Humphrey showed why he is one of the league's top all purpose running backs. Humphrey rushed for 104 yards and caught five balls for 53 yards. He scored two TDs and threw for another. At mid-season, the Devils looked like a solid bet to give Alabama State a serious run for the crown. But by the time the teams met in November, Alabama State proved superior. Valley didn't do much to help its chances, committing six turnovers. Jackson State _ The Tigers never reached their accus tomed level of winning consistency in '91. But they did finish up on a strong note, win ning two of their last three games. Defense led the way in wins over South ?Carolina State (17-6)and Texas Southern (13 12). JSU ended the year by losing a close game to Alcom State (18-16). Against South Carolina State, Ike More house was the guiding force with two inter ceptions and five tackles. The Tigers pro duced three goal-line stands, stopping the Bulldogs three times inside the eight-yard line. JSU also forced sx turnovers. DB Terry "Arnold was the shining light against Texas Southern. He saved the day when he deflected a would-be game winning pass on a two-point PAT attempt with no time left on the clock. Aside from that, he had two interceptions and seven tackles. Arnold returned one of his interceptions 29 yards for JSUs go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. Grambling The final month of the season was a true reflection of how the G-Men have fared this year. The Tigers won close games against Florida A&M (25-22) and Texas Southern (30-27), but were ramsacked by Alabama State (60-14) and nipped by Southern (31-30). Grambling won in dramatic fashion against Texas Southern thanks to placekicker Gilad Landau. Landau's 37-yard effort with no time left provided the margin of victory. For the day he connected on kicks of 37, 31 and 21 yards and was successful on all three of his PAT boots. hi the Florida A&M game, running back Eric Gant rushed for 136 yards to become the third straight Grambling back to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a single season. Tackle Keith Jones paced the defense with seven tackles and a blocked field goal that led to a field goal by Landau. Prairie View A&M The Panthers never got that first win they were so desparately seeking all year. But they did play more competitively in their finale against Southern, a 56-20 loss. PVU had its best day offensively with 320 total yards and the points. It was the first time all year that the Panthers scored in dou ble digits. Individually, the Panthers top people played defense. Dominique Artis and Alphonse Provo registered 85 and 77 tackles respectively. - Dan Wesley
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Dec. 19, 1991, edition 2
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