Sports With Walter Moore

 
 

Alcorn State Pulls Away From SSU

Alcorn State had a happy Homecoming as the Braves defeated Savannah State 42-17 in a non-conference game played at Spinks- Casem Stadium on October 12 in Lorman, Mississippi. The crowd of 17,593 saw ASU rolled up 488 yards of offense on the Tigers.

ASU quarterback Felix Harper threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter as the Braves opened up a 14-0 lead. With 1:43 remaining in the opening quarter, the Tigers dented the scoreboard, thanks to a 26-yard field goal by Giovanni Lugo.

Early in the second quarter, Harper tossed another touchdown pass that gave ASU a 21-3 advantage. Savannah State answered with a pair of touchdowns later in the quarter to slice their deficit to 21-17 as Cameron White caught a 15- yard touchdown pass from D’Vonn Gibbons at the 5:31 mark and 20 seconds later Tiger defensive tackle Cam Brown recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score. Unfortunately, SSU would not score the remainder of the contest.

 
 

Harper threw his fourth touchdown of the half with 1:12 left to send the home team into the half with a 28-17 lead.

Harper tossed his fifth and final touchdown pass in the third quarter to extend the Braves lead to 35-17. ASU added another score late in the quarter to make it 42-17.

Savannah State had a 12-play, 66-yard drive in the fourth quarter. The Tigers made their way to the ASU 11 yard line only to have D’Angelo Durham fumble the ball away to the Braves.

The 488 yards and 42 points were the most given up by SSU this season.

Savannah State’s offense gained 262 yards in the contest. Durham gained 94 yards on the ground for the Tigers while Gibbons threw for 87 yards. White hauled in three catches for 44 yards. Defensively, Walter Yates was in on seven tackles from his linebacker spot.

The loss drops Savannah State’s overall record to 3-3. The Tigers will attempt to halt their twogame losing skid on October 19 when they travel back to Atlanta to face Clark Atlanta (0-6)fora2p.m.kickoff.

A victory over CAU would give Savannah State a 3-0 conference record as they head back home on Oct. 26 to celebrate Homecoming against Albany State.

Smith Signs Basketball Contract

Former Savannah State basketball player Jahlin Smith has signed a professional basketball contract to play with Erebuni Cedars Yerevan in Yerevan, Armenia, which is the top pro league in Armenia. Earlier this year, Smith signed a contract to play in Germany but a few injuries made the team go in another direction for their import needs. Smith also attended the KPA Vegas Pro Summer league in Las Vegas this summer. During his senior year at SSU during the 2018-19 season, he averaged 5.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-7 Smith scored 20 points against Georgia and had 12 rebounds vs Middle Georgia.

Mervin, Henderson Laid To Rest

Former Savannah State football players Henry Mervin and Zachary Henderson died recently.

Mervin, 65, passed away on September 21 at the Veterans Hospital in Virginia. His funeral was held September 30 at First Zion Baptist Church in Bluffton, South Carolina. Henderson, 55, died on Sept. 30 in Maryland. His funeral was held October 12 at New Holy Light Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina Mervin played running back for the Tigers in the 1970s and came to Savannah State out of Pritchardville, SC while Henderson, who was employed by the US Federal Government as a police officer in the Maryland and the DC areas, played linebacker at Savannah State in the early 1980s. During his time on campus, Henderson was known to many as “Mr. T”, because of his mo-hawk haircut, just like the character on the former television series The A-Team.

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