Recruiting Update For Monday, February 1st
Some updates on recruiting as we near National Signing Day on Wednesday.
Audoniss Madison, a 295-lb, 6’6″ offensive lineman from Edna Karr High School in New Orleans has given his verbal commitment to the South Alabama coaching staff. He received interest from Virginia, Memphis, Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois.
Madison was all-metro, all-district and all-state. He provides size with agility that the Jags need to continue to improve.
Antwan Williams who is a 5’11” 175-lb corner from Hoover High School verbally committed to the Jags. He had received interest from UAB, Memphis, Kentucky and Louisiana Tech. Hoover has been a perinial power in the 6A ranks.
Terrell Brigham, a 6’1″ 185-lb corner from Burke County High School in Georgia. He played both quarterback and cornerback in High School but will play cornerback for South Alabama.
C.J. Bennett a 6′ quarterback from Hillsborough County verbally committed to South Alabama last week. He made a visit to South Florida but did not receive an offer from new coach Skip Holtz. Just before former coach Jim Leavitt was fired, Bennett received an offer for an official visit and was hoping to receive a scholarship offer when he visited.
Bennett had committed to Wyoming back in the summer but then decommitted about halfway through the high school season. He blamed the distance from home as his main reason. Offensive Coordinator Coach Gregory had a long relationship with Bennett during his time at South Florida which helped the Jags land Bennett.
Another player that is reportedly ready to publically commit is Trey Sims from North Gwinnett High School. He is a 205-lb 6’3″ Safety who has a reported time of 4.39 40. He is projected as an outside linebacker. Other schools that showed interest in Sims was Akron, Indiana, Toledo, Lousiana-Monroe and Western Michigan.
Shaun Artz of Buford High School in Georgia also committed as reported in the last Thunderjags.com recruiting update. He is listed as a 6’6″ 246-lb offensive tackle. He comes from a football powerhouse in Georgia and will have a chance to earn a spot quickly. Artz can play either guard or tackle and will have a chance to play either. He received interest from Samford, Eastern Michigan among other schools.
But note, that these are only verbal commitments and can change at any moment. Wednesday, February 3rd is the first day that players can sign National Letter-of-Intent’s which make their decisions official.
South Alabama will be hosting a National Signing Day event at the Mitchell Center. Coach Joey Jones and his staff will be showing a brief video of the incoming freshman class and they will speak about the upcoming 2010 schedule. Attendees will also have the opportunity to get autographs from teh current Jags roster and coaching staff.
So come out and on Wednesday for the 5pm event and support the Jags!
Top 5 Stories Of 2009
[EDIT] I had left out my original #2 that I had planned back at the beginning of December when I was mentally planning this article.
Its time for a quick look back as we let go of 2009 and start 2010. Also, since the Mobile Press-Register did not see fit to include South Alabama in their Top 10 stories in the area, here are my top 5 stories from the past year.
Leave comments if you think another story should have been included. Or if it were a top 10 list, what other stories would you include.
Top 5 of 2009
1) Kickoff of Jaguars football
South Alabama completed its first season in college football with an undefeated inaugural season. With games in coming season against Kent State, NC State, Mississippi State, Navy and Tennessee, it shows that the school is committed to this program.
A four game home-and-home series with Navy. Two-for-One series with NC State, Kent and Mississippi State where the Jags will visit the teams twice in return for a home game against each. Which mean some big time home games against NC State and Mississippi State in Mobile.
The Staff that Coach Joey Jones assembled and the players they have recruiting has this team much farther ahead than coaches, players and observers thought. With that, they had to retool the schedule for 2010 to include more competition as they march their way to Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A).
[EDIT] 2a) Announcement Of Joe Gottfried’s Retirement And Hiring Of Joel Erdmann As Athletic Director
On June 2, Joe Gottfried announced in the Mitchell Center that he was retiring effective August 1. Gottfried, who was the Athletic Director for South Alabama for 25 years said the time was right. He was instrumental in getting first class sports buildings on campus such as the $30 Million Mitchell Center, a $3.5 Million renovation to Stanky Field, a 4,000 clubhouse, intramural fields and the football field house among many others.
Then in July, South Alabama announced the hiring of Joel Erdmann as the new Athletic Director for the University of South Alabama. Erdmann held several positions at South Alabama previously and served as AD at the University of North Alabama and at his hiring he was AD at Southeastern Louisiana University.
2b) USA defeats two SEC Schools in basketball
Back in late November the Jags had two loses to good opponents in Rice and Tulsa and traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the Jags former coach John Pelphrey and the SEC. Many people just wrote it off as a typical loss to a big program, but Coach Arrow and the Jags took a page from Lee Corso’s book and said “Not so fast!” They stunned the Razorbacks on their own court with an impressive victory by a large margin, 74-61.
Then after losses to Southern Miss and UAB, the Jags made a trip to yet another SEC school. But this time it was a Top 25 ranked team. The Jags were facing #18 Florida in Gainesville, Florida where the Gator had not lost a home game since December 2004.
Again the Jags were written off from the beginning but stunned the Gators and made a huge splash on ESPN, ESPN News and ESPN.com. Although it was won on a last second put back, it was a huge win. It is only the second time in school history USA has defeated two SEC teams in the same season and the first since 1983-84. Plus it was the first time to knock off a ranked opponent since 2005 when they defeated #25 Houston.
3) Loss of Dameyune Craig to FSU
Many people thought it was just a matter of time for this coach who has quite a rising status in college football. But nontheless, it was the second assistant in less than a year that was hired away from Coach Jones’ staff to a major Division-I program. This time it was Florida State.
Jimbo Fisher was beginning to prepare taking over the reigns to the Seminole program from Bobby Bowden and one of his first hires was Dameyune Craig. A very good recruiter in the Mobile area that the Jags will definitely be recruiting against to keep local talent.
4) All Jaguar Football Players Who Are Eligible Receive A Redshirt
Just before the final football game against Huntingdon College, Coach Jones announced that all of the eligible players on the team would get an extra year of eligibility.
Those players who had not already taken a redshirt year, will take the 2009 season as their redshirt year. Unfortunately some players had already used their redshirt year and will not be able to have an extra season with the Jaguars.
5) Hiring of Gregory (also leaving of Koenning)
In December 2008, before the Jags even took the field for their first game, Coach Joey Jones loss his first assistant to an SEC school. Dan Mullen, who was just hired to replace Sylvester Croom, tapped him to be his offensive coordinator for the Bulldogs program.
Coach Joey Jones then began a search for a replacement that fit Koennings’ profile and the players that they were recruiting. In came Greg Gregory from South Florida, another new program in recent years. South Florida rose through the ranks and has the NCAA record to achieve its first Top 25 ranking faster than other Division I-A school in the modern era and eventually rising to #2 in the polls in 2007.
Florida State Hires Dameyune Craig To Coach Quarterbacks
It was announced today by Pat Greenwood that Dameyune Craig had accepted an offer from Jimbo Fisher and Florida State to coach quarterbacks for the Seminoles.
Fisher recruited, signed and coached Craig at Auburn in the 90s. This is a tough loss by Coach Jones and the Jags because Craig was a very talented recruiter in the area. He will likely recruit here for the Seminoles because of his strong ties with the area.
Craig was on WNSP with Pat Greenwood and they spoke about his ties with Fisher and his time with the Jags. He spoke about meeting in the basement of the Mitchell Center early on in the program. How they had to sell the program to kids with only a wood covered hill to show and designs in their minds for the field house and practice fields.
He said that the Jags program was in very good hands with Coach Jones. He knew it from the beginning and he continues to the Jags improving as they march towards FBS play.
This is the second coach to be picked off from Coach Jones staff since he was hired to start the program. Les Koenning was hired by Dan Mullen and Mississippi State after Mullen was hired to take over the Bulldogs program last year. Hailed as one of the top young coaches in the country, Craig will be missed by the Jag Nation.
We at Thunderjags wish Dameyune the best at Florida State and hope he will help South Alabama land a couple good games against the Seminoles in the coming years.
Jags Sign Two Defensive Back Transfers In As Many Days
In two day the Jags have signed two Junior College transfers to help bolster their defensive secondary. On Wednesday they signed Safety Jonathan Cameron to a National Letter-of-Intent to join the Jaguars.
Cameron played the last two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and will have two season of eligibility left to play for the Jaguars. MGCCC finished in the top 10 in the final NJCAA rankings for 2009.
Cameron is listed at 6’1″ 190-lb and is a native of Puckett, Mississippi. His stats for last season included 39 tackles, two for a loss and one being a sack.
Before his stint with MGCCC he played in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic.
He chose South Alabama over an offer from East Carolina.
On Thursday, South Alabama announced the second JC transfer to sign with the Jaguars. Justin Sorrell signed a National Letter-of-Intent to join the Jags program with two years of eligibility to play.
Sorrell played the last two seasons with Blinn Junior College in Texas. They won the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship this year.
Sorrell is listed as a 5’10” 190-lb defensive back who finished the 2009 season with 77 tackles (second most on the team) and two interceptions in helping the Buccaneers to their 11-1 record and the National Championship. A second experience defensive back in as many days to help the Jags secondary as they will be seeing a marked increase in strength of schedule.
Sorrell chose South Alabama over recruiting efforts by UTEP, McNeese State and Lamar. Lamar is on the Jags schedule for 2010.
The Jags played the 2009 season with some converted players in the secondary. Matt Saucier moved from Quarterback and Ken Barefield moved from receiver to help give more depth at the position after some injuries early thinned out the ranks.
Coach Joey Jones has this to say about Cameron. “We feel great about Jonathan, he’s tall, rangy and has great speed. He is a really good athlete who can play either cornerback or safety. On his visit, you could tell that Jonathan is an individual with great character. We knew that we wanted him here at USA.”
“Justin is a very athletic safety who is a great tackler. He also has the ability to play man coverage as well. Justin is a great combination player, he is exactly what we are looking for in a safety,” Coach Jones said about Sorrell.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Releases 2010 Football Schedule
South Alabama released their 2010 football schedule on Monday and its a definite step up in competition. The Jags will play 10 games next season against four year institutions with four of them already at or transitioning to FCS or Division I-AA.
Seven of the ten games will be in Mobile with trips to Edward Waters, Lamar and University of California-Davis as their away games.
The Jaguars second season will kickoff on Saturday September 4 against Pikeville (Kentucky) who is an NAIA school that went 3-8 last year. The following an open week, the Jags will host Nocholls State on September 18. Nicholls State finished 3-8 (2-5 in the Southland Conference) last season.
Then the Jaguars first ever away game will have them Traveling to Jacksonville, Florida on September 25 to play Edward Waters, another NAIA school. Last year they returned to football in 2001 after a 34 year break. They went 1-10 although their head coach has been named conference coach of the year twice in the last three seasons.
October will begin by hosting Kentucky Wesleyan (October 2) followed by Missouri Tech (October 9), both from the Great Lakes Football Conference.
The schedule will toughen with back to back road games against formitable opponents. October 16 the Jags will travel to Lamar. This will be their first season back in football since 1989 as they will be transitioning to FCS. Then the Jags will travel all the way out to UC-Davis on October 23. Davis finished 6-5 last season and won the Great West Conference in 2009. Davis played Boise State close for most of the game which is not indicitive by the final score of 34-16.
October 30 the Jags will host upstart football program Georgia State who will begin the transition to FCS play. Head Coach Bill Curry should be familiar with many with his previous work at Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia Tech plus his stint with ESPN covering college football.
November will see two more games in Mobile. Henderson State (Arkansas) will be the Jags opponent on November 6 for homecoming. They lost 27-24 at Southland Conference co-champion McNeese State last season. Then the final game of the season will be against Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday, November 11. They finished 4-4 last season in the Gulf South Conference.
“Our coaches and players want to move up the ladder from a competitive standpoint,” Coach Joey Jones commented. “This schedule is a good one as we continue to transition to the NCAA Division I level. It will be a challenge for the kids, but it is one big step in that process.”
Coach Jones commented about the away games by saying, “We would’ve liked to have played a road game this year, so we’re excited about the opportunity to be able to do that next season. It’s exciting not just playing in someone else’s stadium, but in getting used to the travel process.”
“We believe the 2010 football schedule is one which is appropriate for the maturing process of the program and will provide tremendous college football contests, both home and away, for our Jaguar fans,” said Joel Erdmann, South Alabama Athletics Director.
Game times will be announced at a later date.
Season tickets are still on sale for the 2010 season through December 31 for $85. Also the 2010 season will be the second season and the last season for the Jags football team as an unclassified program. They will then being the two year transition process to FBS (Division I-A) football in 2011. In 2013 they will be full members of the Sun Belt Conference, competing for the conference championship and will be eligible for a bowl bid.
Here is a link to the PDF of the schedule from South Alabama Football website.
Go Jags!
Coach Jones Has Good News And Basketball Gets Ready To Tipoff At Home
The Jags have gone 3-1 so far in basketball with wins over West Florida 79-63, Houston Baptist 76-64 and Sacramento State 70-58. Their only loss was to Rice by two points, 71-69.
The Jags will open their home season on Thursday when they host Spring Hill college at 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center. USA will be honoring the football team for their accomplishments in their inaugural season at halftime of the men’s game.
Mentioned today on the Coach Joey Jones Radio Show, the NCAA has granted USA players who have not already used their redshirt year, the ability to count this year towards that. Since USA was not competing against “varsity” teams, the NCAA has allowed them to do this.
However this will apply differently from player to player. For instance, someone like Brandon Ross who has only used one year of eligibilty (at Memphis) will get to count this year as his redshirt year which means he has three more years to play at USA. But a player like Courtney Smith who has used his redshirt and played two years at UAB will only have one more year of eligibility left for next year. Charlie Higgenbotham and Justin Dunn both have the same eligibility status as Smith. All but one of the offensive linemen, who are JuCo transfers, have only used two years of eligibility and will have two more years to play for USA.
During Monday’s media day Coach Jones reflected on the Jags inaugural season. One of the first questions he was asked was about how he felt after realizing that the team had played its final game of the season. He answered by saying, “This weekend I was emotionally and physically drained from a year and a half of putting this thing together, but at the same time I’m just really excited for where our program is at this point. So much hard work has gone into putting this together, and I’m just really pleased with where we are in the process of moving into Division I.”
Another question was about where the team will go from here. “The biggest thing we’ve got to meet with the team about today is that we’ve got to continually raise the bar starting today and all the way through next season, and even beyond that,” Coach Jones answered. “We’ve got to realize where we want to be as a football program, and we’ve got to continually raise the bar every day, because we’re by no means a good Division I program right now. We’re going to be there, but we know that we’ve got a lot of work to do to get to that point.”
He was then asked about what areas the team needed to improve upon. “It’s obviously in the weight room and the strength and conditioning area,” he said. “We’ve got to become a bigger and faster team, and then the second thing is recruiting. We’re hitting the recruiting trail this week, and have been recruiting, but we can focus all of our energies toward recruiting and signing what we deem are Division I players. We’ve got to make decisions along the way that we’re going to sign better players than we’ve got, or we’re not going to sign them. We don’t need numbers anymore. We need higher quality players as we go, so we’ve got to focus on that and not get caught up in trying to sign numbers.”
Coach Jones was asked what he would remember from this first season. He answered, “The number one thing I’m most pleased about is how the team came together. I’m not just talking about our players and staff, I’m talking about our trainers, equipment people, graduate assistants, and strength and conditioning guys. Everybody that was involved with the program seemed like they were all on the same page, and that was the most pleasing thing – to bring that many people together and get them all going in the same direction. We really had a bunch of great people.”
One of the last questions asked was what it means to the program to win all seven games this season. “Number one it makes a statement that South Alabama is here to build a Division I football program,”he said. “The 7-0 thing is a confidence builder. Success breeds success and losing breeds losing, so I would much rather be 7-0, because I think that carries over. It’s not that if we had lost a bunch of games that we wouldn’t have had a chance to have a great program, but any time you win kids get used to it and it’s harder for them to lose down the road.”
Jags Stay Undefeated With Another Impressive Victory
South Alabama sporting their all-white uniform and the offense debuting a new wrinkle. We’ll call it the ‘Wild Jag’ instead of the Wild Cat formation.
Thursday night the Jags capped off their first season of football the way they wanted, with a win. But this win wasn’t like any other win, this was a very special victory. It marked the end of an undefeated season for the Jags. The Jags had several things to overcome in the game, but they worked hard and won 35-0 over a very good Huntingdon team in front of their second largest crowd of the season at 23,683.
Last week the Jags saw starting quarterback Myles Gibbon go down after a pass play and had to be helped off the field by the trainers. He was quickly looked at and sent to the locker room on crutches to dress out. This week it was discovered that his injury was not a serious as first thought. Instead of a broken ankle it was just a bad sprain. So Junior Brennan Sim got the start in his place.
But Myles was not the only injured player missing the game for the Jags. Actually a couple missed the game due to various injuries.
Huntingdon College arrived in Mobile ready to play and for the first half they gave the Jags all they had. They held the Jaguar offense in check on their first drive forcing a punt, but it would be the Hawks that would get the first big play to make a difference in the game.
The Hawks would get the ball on their own 23 yard line after a Jaguar punt and would eventually connect on a 78 yard pass on a broken play to get the ball down to the Jaguar 2 yard line. With the Jags defense facing allowing the first score in the first quarter for the season and also possibly trailing for the first time in a game, the defense stepped up. The first play from the two the Jags stopped the runner one yard short of the end zone. Then the following play the Jags would force a fumble and recover it near the two yard line.
Then the Jaguar offense found their gear and methodically marched down the field in 8 plays to cover 98 yards to score the first points of the game. Brandon Ross capped off the drive with a 5 yard run for the score with 5:28 left in the first quarter.
The ensuing Hawk possession saw a Jaguar interception but the ball was turned right back over to the Hawks two plays later. From there there were several punts. Then with 3:21 left until halftime the Jags attempted a field goal however Michel Chapaseaux’s kick missed wide right.
The second half was much different from the first for the Jags. After a good return of the second half kickoff, the Jags drove 54 yards in 7 plays to open the second half with a touchdown drive. Again, Brandon Ross capped it off with a 1 yard touchdown run.
Huntingdon’s next possession ended with an interception which the Jags could not capitalize on and was forced to punt themselves on a three and out. Forced to punt again on the next Huntingdon possession, the Jags then put their offense into high gear. Scoring on their next three consecutive possessions on drives of 62 yards in 10 plays, 85 yards in 8 plays and 37 yards in two plays. The first drive was capped off by a pass to Santuan McGee but the next two saw him carry it in from 1 and 12 yards out.
Brandon Ross gained 144 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns for this third 100-yard game of the season. Santuan McGee ran 11 times for 93 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Brennan Sim ran 8 times for 50 yards. Several other jags also carried the ball.
Brennan Sim was 13-for-20 for 150 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Nick Owens only threw one pass which was incomplete.
Courtney Smith was the leading receiver with 4 catches for 73 yards. Corey Waldon caught 3 for 39. Five other Jags caught passes as well.
In total, the Jags had 22 first downs with 345 yards rushing and 150 yards passing for a total of 495 yards. The Jags also had 9 penalties for 85 yards in the game.
Huntingdon College had 11 first downs with 54 yards rushing and 182 yards passing for a total of 236 yards. The Hawks had 11 penalties for 72 yards. The Jags defense shut Huntingdon down in the second half by only allowing 83 yards during those 30 minutes of play.
Coach Jones praised his players after the game. “It feels great of course, and we had that as a goal, but we really concentrate on the little things,” he said. “That’s what gets you to 7-0 – those little things you do every day in practice that the coaches keep harping to the players, and that’s just nothing but a reward for your hard work each day. I never thought we’d be 7-0.”
The Huntingdon College coach also had good things to say about the Jaguars. “We haven’t played anyone like that has frustrated us that much defensively,” he said. “They were able to really shut down the things we were trying to do and make us go places we’re not accustomed to going as far as the game plan. A lot of credit goes to coach Jones and his staff. They are doing a fantastic job, and they obviously outcoached us tonight. It was obvious to me that they had their guys a lot more prepared for us than we were for them.”
Zach Brownell mentioned that the Hawk offense was a little surprising to the Jaguar defense. “They were a good offense.They came out and hit us in the mouth. Their receivers were physical and they showed us some stuff we didn’t see on film.”
Brennan Sim, who filled in for an injured Myles Gibbon, spoke after the game. “It means a lot to the team to finish the season 7-0, to face a little adversity for the first time, and to come out with a really strong second half. For me, it was exciting to be able to end the season on a high note.”
Coach Jones also spoke about the challenge the Jags faced in Huntingdon. “We kind of wanted a challenge. Of course I would’ve rather scored a few more points, but the bottom line is Huntingdon came out and played great. Those guys are scrappy, and I knew it. When I watched them on film I knew they would present a challenge. Hats off to them for coming out and playing well.
We needed a game, we needed to be able to come in at halftime and regroup, refocus and make some changes. We did that, the staff did a great job at halftime, and we came out and played a great second half.”
The Jaguars halftime adjustments were excellent. But their determination and hard work really payed off. The Jags are a very physical team, just like Coach Jones wants, and it showed in the second half. They just wore Huntingdon out down the stretch of the second half.
The Jags have alot of build on over the next several months to prepare for next season. The coaches will be recruiting hard over the next several weeks leading up to National Signing Day in early February.
The excitement has reached new heights this football season in Mobile. Even though Alabama is undefeated, it is very encouraging to see so many people wearing their South Alabama merchandise to various places.
Another exciting thing is that the students and fans can keep wearing their “Still Undefeated” shirts for the next nine months leading up to the 2010 season. This can only help recruiting. But if Alabama happens to slip up anytime during their last few games of the season, those shirts can take on new meaning.
What does next season have in store for the Jags? Only time will tell, but one thing we can clearly see right now is that the sky is the limit. To take the words from Casey Kasem, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”
Go Jags! Still Undefeated!
Jags Media Day During Short Week Prep For Huntingdon College
The Jags opponent in just two short days may be the teams biggest challenge of the year. The Jags are coming off of back to back 64 point games then will follow it up with a short week for the Thursday night match up. But Huntingdon College may not be like most of the schools the Jags have faced this season.
Huntingdon has experienced players, they will have juniors and seniors. They are averaging around 550 yards of offense and about 44 points per game. Although they are a Division III school, they have experience and they have talent. What they may lack would be size on the offensive and defensive lines.
Here are some comments from Coach Jones during Monday’s media day on Huntington College. “When you look at Huntingdon you see a very good football team,” said Coach Jones. “We may have played some other teams with better athletes, but this is by far the best team we’ve played. They’re extremely well coached, and they do all the right things. They’re very good on offense, averaging 44 points per game, with 550 yards a game. They’re leading the nation in Division III offensively. We realize they’re a very good football team, and we’re really looking forward to Thursday night.”
Huntingdon’s quarterback, Justin Ridgeway, has made some plays this year. Coach Jones had this to say about him. “He’s very athletic. He has a good arm, is a big quarterback with size to him, and he rolls out of the pocket and throws the ball really well. One thing I notice about him is he makes plays when things seem to go awry. If the protection breaks down he will scramble and make a throw, and that always scares you as a coach because you do everything right, things break down and you feel like you’ve got him, and then all of a sudden he makes a big play.”
Again, the other elephant that was in the room about this weeks game is the short turnaround time from Saturday to Thursday. “It is different. We’ve cut back two days of preparation from the normal week to week cycle,” Coach Jones answered. “We came in on Sunday and worked, and the coaches have been here nonstop getting ready for this ballgame. The biggest thing is our coaching staff has to have time to put a game plan together, put it in a simple way for the kids to understand it, and we’ve done that. I told the team yesterday that we’ve got to be ready to play. We’ve only got two more practices left, and so we’ve got to get everything done. I’ve challenged them to do that, and they’ve responded to it.”
The Jags kick off against Huntingdon College on Thursday at 6:00pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium for their last game of the season and a chance to go undefeated in the Jags inaugural season of football. They are billing the game as a white out. The Jags will wear their white helmets with their white jersey’s and white pants. They encourage their fans to wear white as well to support the Jags.
GO JAGS!!
Jags Run Record To 6-0 With Another Blowout Victory Over Milford Academy
The Jags homecoming saw yet another impressive showcase of South Alabama talent. The Jags score four touchdowns in the first quarter, score a total 64 points and win by 50+ points for the second consecutive game.
Big Brandon Ross opened the scoring when his 15 yard run up the middle finished the 6 play 73 yard drive with less than two minutes gone in the first quarter. The defense would force a three and out punt to set up the Jags second touchdown drive of 5 plays covering 77 yards. Myles Gibbon capped it off with a 15 yard run to put the Jags ahead 14-0 with 9:47 to go in the first quarter.
A second consecutive defensive stand forced the Falcons to go three and out again. Brennan Sim then came in to lead the offense in its third drive and quickly showed his stuff by hitting Courtney Smith (AKA Quick 6) on a 73 yard touchdown strike to extend their lead to 21-0 with 7:02 left in the first quarter still.
The Falcon offense finally got their first first down of the game on their third drive but could only manage to go 28 yards in 5 plays before being forced to punt to the Jags again. The Jags started at their own six yard line but Brennan Sim showed his poise and led the Jags on a 94 yard march in seven plays to score. Brandon Ross carried it in for this second touchdown of the first quarter. This 94 yard drive was the longest by the Jags so far this season. The Jags led 28-0 with 2:11 left in the first quarter.
The Jags then forced the Falcons to punt on their next possession and pinned the Jags back within their 20 yard line again. But the Jags would drive again. Moving the ball 76 yards in 10 plays they settled for a Michel Chapaseaux from 25 yards out to run their lead out to 31-0 with 11:49 left in the first half.
The Jags defense held again and forced their third three and out punt of the game. However a mental error in special teams play gave the ball back to the Falcons at the Jaguar 31 yard line, which they would take advantage of by scoring on a 30 yard pass but failing to convert the PAT left them at 31-6.
A big return on the ensuing kickoff put the Jags at the Falcon 19 yard line. Five plays and 19 yards later, Anthony Mostella took the ball in for a touchdown from one yard out to extend the Jaguar lead to 38-6 with 6:32 left in the first half.
The next Falcon possession was another three and out punt. However the Jags would give the ball right back on the next play with an interception at the Milford 12 yard line. Forced to punt from their own endzone, the punter mishandled the low snap and the Jags pounced causing a safety to put the Jags up 40-6 with 4:35 left in the first half.
With the safety, the Falcons were forced to kickoff to the Jags from their own 20 yard line with a free kick. The Jags would march 44 yards in 5 plays to cap off the first half scoring. This time Eli Smith carried the ball in from 8 yards out to run their lead to 47-6 with 2:18 left until halftime.
Milford would get the ball on the kickoff and put together their best drive of the game, moving the ball 67 yards in 8 plays only taking 1:38 to do it. Their drive ended with a 7 yard touchdown pass with 40 seconds left in the half. Would kneel on the ball to go into halftime with a 47-12 lead.
The Jags rolled up a dominating 456 yards of offense in the first half with 322 of them coming on the ground.
The third quarter saw a lul in the scoring with only Michel Chapaseaux adding a 39 yard field goal with 8:57 left in the third quarter for a 50-12 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter Clifton Crews picked off a Falcon pass and returned it 49 yards for a Jaguar touchdown. Lawson McGlon added the PAT for a 57-12 lead. Then on the next Jaguar possession, Ryan Scott scored on a one yard run to end the 11 play 64 yard drive for the last Jaguar touchdown for the final score of 64-12.
Unfortunately Myles Gibbon went down with a foot injury late in the game after a long pass completion. He was helped off the field by the trainers and immediately went to the trainers table where they worked on his ankle. He walked off on crutches and later came back to watch the remainder of the game with the South Alabama students. The initial prognosis is that its a broken ankle but X-rays are scheduled on Monday to confirm.
Twelve different Jags carried the ball for a total of 396 yards, led by Brandon Ross’ 6 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Myles Gibbon ran 3 times for 59 yards and a touchdown.
Passing Gibbon went 2-of-5 for 33 yards, Brennan Sim was 2-for-3 for 90 yards including the 73 yard strike to Smith for a touchdown. Nick Owens was 2-for-6 for 40 yards and an interception. Gabe Graham was 0-for-1.
Receiving Courtney Smith was the only Jag to catch more than one pass with 2 for 76 and the only touchdown. Erling Riis caught one for 30 and Taylor Noon caught one for 29.
Clifton Crews led the way with 7 total tackles but Ken Barefield led the team in solo tackles with 4.
The Jags totaled 538 yards of offense (the most this season) with 397 of them on the ground. The Defense only gave up 185 total yards with only 35 of them rushing.
The Jags were penalized eight times for 89 yards and the Falcons were flagged seven times for 67 yards.
After the game Coach Jones had this to say: “It was a big win again. I’m proud of the kids for playing well. It’s just a matter of executing well and playing hard. We’ve got a short week coming up, and we’re going to start getting ready early in the morning for the game on Thursday. We’re looking forward to it because they’re going to be one of the best teams we play. They’re leading the nation in offense in Division III, so we’ve got a great game to look forward to this week.”
Brennan Sim thought the offense did its job. “I think we moved the ball well. We executed, which we need to continue to do,” he said. “What we saw on film is what we got. We hit them big on a couple of plays because they played a lot of cover zero, so they didn’t even have a safety out there.”
Ryne Baxter, an offensive lineman who got his first start in place of an injured Cory Pitman, said, “The coaches prepared us well. We worked hard all week, so I was ready to step up when I was called on. I was a little nervous at first, but after the first play I knew I was going to be alright.”
Milford Academy head coach Bill Chaplick joined the ranks of opponents coaches who spoke highly of the Jaguar team. “This was a great experience for my guys to come down here. We are normally a blitzing defense and South Alabama was able to take us out of that. We weren’t able to get to the quarterback until we were down 28 points and that killed us. Offensively, we just weren’t able to do anything either.”
The Jags will have a very quick turnaround with their next game coming up on Thursday night. The weather over the next couple days may cause the coaches headaches in preparing for Huntingdon College with the potential for heavy rain for Monday and Tuesday. The Hawks will come into the game with an 8-1 record after downing Coach Jones’ former team, Birmingham-Southern, on Saturday.
Kickoff Thursday night is scheduled for 6pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Go Jags!!
Jags Media Day
At media day on Monday Coach Jones was joined by quarterback Brennan Sim and defensive lineman Romelle Jones. Following are some of the highlights from the press conference.
When asked about Milford Academy coach Jones said that they have some similarities to the last few teams the Jags have faced. One difference is their defensive front. They will put eight guys in the box, which really crowds the line. So they have to play man coverage outside. The Jags have already seen that with Georgia Military.
On offense they are more similar to everyone the Jags have played with multiple formations, but not nearly as many as Fork Union, who utilizes 42 different formations.
Coach Jones’ answer to the question about what the team will do in practice this coming week, he had the following to say. “We’re going to go against each other again offensively and defensively. That’s making us better as a football team. I’ve learned over the course of this season that getting ready for the speed of the game by the way we practice with our ones against ones has really helped us. We’re going to focus on that.”
One question reflected back on last weeks thrashing of Fork Union asking what the team could take away from that win. “We’re trying to really evaluate ourselves,” Coach Jones said. “I talked to the coaches and told them we ought to evaluate as if we lost the game. Normally when you lose a game you’re mad, you’re upset about something, and you overanalyze things. Let’s do that now, even though we won, because there are a lot of things our guys can do to get better fundamentally, and we need to just focus on those things. I’m taking the focus off of who we’re playing and putting the focus on what we’re doing to be a good football team. The bottom line is it’s reality for us right now, and we’re just focusing on getting better in practice, as well as how we approach practice and how prepared we are mentally to practice.”
Coach Jones answered a question about where the team needs to improve, which he has been saying for weeks now: “It’s still going back to the passing game. We threw the ball deep very well last week, had some big plays down the field. Where we struggle a little bit offensively is converting the third and four to eight types of plays, and we’ve got to get better at that. We have a problem with that in practice, our defense brings a lot of pressure, and so converting on third and medium would be a concern of mine offensively. Special teams we’ve been really pleased with, and the only thing I would say there is tackling, that sometimes gives the kids some problems, but as far as assignments go everything is good. Defensively, getting back to more turnovers. We had so many takeaways in the early games, and they’re playing well, but we didn’t have as many turnovers come our way in the last couple of games as we had in the previous three.”
With the season winding down, one of the questions was about how Coach Jones feels about areas that were a concern coming into the season. “The offensive line is still thin, but we’ve had a couple guys step up into the playing rotation,” Coach Jones answered. “The secondary was our other concern earlier in the year, and some guys have really stepped up and played well there. Jerron Mitchell has really stepped up and had a great year at cornerback, and having Jerron there has really helped us.”
Another question about the season winding down, was about having only 11 days left in the first football season. To which Coach Jones answered, “I’ll probably think more about that once it’s over, but reflecting back on it one thing is it’s gone fast. It seems like every day I come to work it’s a great experience. Our kids are reacting really well on the practice field and in games. One thing looking back on it is the team chemistry has come together in a great way. I’ve coached a lot of teams, sometimes you work on those things and talk about those things with the players, and some years the chemistry may be good. On a scale of one to 10 some years it may be an eight, some years it’s a seven, some years it’s a nine, and I think this year it’s a 10 as far as the team chemistry goes. That’s one thing I look back on and feel like we’ve accomplished, and the kids are certainly a big part of that. It’s been a very gratifying season from the standpoint of we didn’t look very good at all last spring. This fall we’re a totally different football team, it’s not even close, and that makes you feel good that you’ve made some progress and the kids are going in the right direction.”
Next up was Brennan Sim who was asked about Saturday’s game. He said that from his positions standpoint, he thought the coaches was happier with their performance. They have progressed over the course of the season and they want to keep getting better. They are not where they want to be going into next season and they have a long way to go to get there.
He was also asked about knowing what to work on each week. “There are still things that we can improve on,” Sim said. “The teams we’re playing have really talented players, it’s just tough to put a team together in one year. Most of them have players who are one year removed from high school, and we’re a four-year program, so we’re going to have more chemistry. But these are really solid teams that we’re playing, so you can still get good feedback.”
The final Jag player to speak was Romelle Jones. He was asked about the defense’s performance against the Fork Union offense. He said that the defensive line is still young and are trying to improve every game. He also said that Coach Clark has been on them saying they need to get more sacks as a group. But that their goal is to shut out their opponent each game.
When asked about the defense’s performance this season he answered, “Our coaches preach perfection each practice, and to never let down in the game. We don’t underestimate any of our opponents, and we have respect for everyone on our schedule. We prepare for every game the same way, no matter who we’re playing.”
One of the final questions was about what the defense is working to improve on every day. Jones answered that they are working this week to prevent big plays. He said it seems that every game they have given up a big play in every game this season and that tehir goal is to limit them.
Don’t forget all of the homecoming activities Friday at South Alabama. 4:30-5:30pm they will be hosting an open house as the new football field house followed by an hour long alumni lawn party outside of Alumni Hall which is then followed by USA’s Homecoming parade starting at 6:30pm.
The Jags will take the field against Milford Academy at 4pm on Saturday to try to stay undefeated at 6-0 for their first season of football.
Go Jags!!