Sunday, September 9, 2012

Tennessee State cruises to win over Jackson State in Southern Heritage Classic

MEMPHIS, Tennessee  -  Chief organizer of the Southern Heritage Classic, Fred Jones, predicted Friday afternoon that there would be somewhere between 40,000 and 45,000 fans in attendance for Saturday's game between Jackson State and Tennessee State.

He was right on target with 42,257 people filing into the Liberty Bowl. Jones also predicted another close game in the heated annual rivalry, but Tennessee State kept that prediction from coming true.

TSU got superstar performances from junior running back Trabis Ward and redshirt freshman Telvin Hooks and stormed past struggling Jackson State, 38-12, in one of the more lopsided Southern Heritage Classic games in years.

Tennessee State improved to 2-0 on the young season while Jackson State fell to 0-2 and has now been outscored 97-21 in eight quarters of play.

"We are still very young on defense — not one senior starting for us," Tennessee State coach Rod Reed said. "Our offense is having to kind of carry the defense along a little bit. It took us a while to get into a rhythm. But once we found it, we did a very nice job."

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TSU runs by Jackson State

MEMPHIS, Tennessee - Trabis Ward, who was injured last season against Jackson State, inflicted plenty of pain Saturday night while leading Tennessee State to a 38-12 win in the 23rd annual Southern Heritage Classic.

The junior running back scored a career-high three touchdowns, all in the second quarter, and helped TSU get off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2008.

A Liberty Bowl crowd of 42,257 watched TSU snap its two-game losing streak against JSU (0-2). TSU has won eight of the past 10 games in the Southern Heritage Classic.

“Trabis came to me before the game and said, ‘Coach, I don’t think you know what kind of team we have,’” coach Rod Reed said. “They’re starting to show me more and more each week.”

Ward, who ran for 114 yards on 22 carries and had two catches for 23 yards, was named the game’s most valuable player.

Last year against Jackson State, he injured his ankle on a TD run that tied the score at 14 in the first quarter. With Ward limited the rest of the way (35 yards on 13 carries), JSU overcame a 24-21 halftime deficit to claim a 35-29 victory.



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