Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Alcorn hopes rest pays off in bowl

LORMAN, Mississippi -- Usually when a team puts together a strong performance, a coach would want to play a game as soon as possible to keep the momentum going.

But that’s not true for Alcorn State and offensive coordinator Fred Kaiss as the Braves (9-3) prepare for a matchup with North Carolina A&T (9-2) in the Celebration Bowl at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

“Most cases you would say that, yeah, I’ve been eager to get this game going, but we were pretty banged up,” Kaiss said. “The few days we gave them off before we started practice, I think was a blessing. The biggest thing I was nervous about was we were really beat up going into the Grambling game … but we came out of the game better than when they went in. And we had a few days to let them heal up, so we’re in good shape.”

Alcorn State’s receiving corps has been bitten by the injury bug, according to Kaiss, and then there’s the high ankle sprain suffered by standout quarterback John Gibbs Jr. in the win against Southern on Oct. 31.

Receiver Marquis Warford has stepped up and made some big plays down the stretch. On the first play of the game against the Jaguars, Warford took a handoff and raced 78 yards for a touchdown.

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