Sunday, October 10, 2010

A-Mayes-ing: JSU Tigers receiver puts on 3-TD show

Posed a question about his final hurrah of an extraordinary afternoon Saturday, Anthony Mayes had to pause and think. What? You expect the Jackson State receiver to remember all three of his touchdowns? "Hmmm," Mayes said, scratching his face in thought. "Let me see ... the last one ..." Yep, it was just that kind of day for Mayes - and the rest of JSU's Air Raid offense, too.

Mayes hauled in three scoring passes and quarterback Casey Therriault again sliced easily through an opponent's secondary as Jackson State beat Alabama A&M 30-14, picking up a victory that might just send the Tigers back to Birmingham. For the last four seasons, the winner of the A&M-JSU game has won the Southwestern Athletic Conference Eastern Division and advanced to Birmingham for the league title game. "It's super big," coach Rick Comegy said afterward. Said Mayes: "We're riding high."

Surprise: A&M's starting QB out with injury

Call it smart. Call it clever. Call it deceitful or unfair. The bottom line is that Alabama A&M played without its starting quarterback Saturday and not many knew it until the backup strolled onto the field for the first play of Jackson State's 30-14 victory at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium..

"It was a well-kept secret," JSU coach Rick Comegy said. A&M coach Anthony Jones kept quarterback Deaunte Mason's injury - a groin pull - out of the media all week. In turn, JSU spent time in practice on defending the triple option, something Mason does well. A&M ran the option twice Saturday.

Notebook: Kicker will miss rest of season

Kicker Jabril Smith, a Callaway High grad, will miss the rest of the season with a broken ankle, Jackson State coach Rick Comegy confirmed following the Tigers' 30-14 win over Alabama A&M on Saturday.

Smith suffered what was thought to be a mild injury in the win over Mississippi Valley State two weeks ago. Midway through this week, Comegy said he expected him back in two weeks. Smith had surgery on the ankle Oct. 1, and Comegy was made aware later this week that he would not be returning this year. That leaves punter Reed Gallagher...

Tigers QB realizing potential

It's just past lunch time Thursday. John Doyle is sitting in his bustling classroom at Wyoming Park High in Michigan with the phone pressed to his ear, listening intently. He's being read Casey Therriault's statistics through four games as Jackson State's quarterback: 360 yards a game, 28 completions per game, 12 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

"It doesn't surprise me one bit," Doyle said chuckling a bit. "You should see his stats from high school." To Doyle, Therriault's high school coach, the numbers the QB is posting, while head-shakingly good, are the norm.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLES.

Attendance: 24,269

No comments: