Alabama A&M 37, Mississippi Valley State 14

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Inside linebacker Willie Fuller was reminded last week of Alabama A&M's embarrassing homecoming loss to Texas Southern six years ago. The Tigers, who entered the game riding a 16-game losing streak, stunned the Bulldogs 17-7.

Fuller and company made sure there would be no embarrassing homecoming loss Saturday to Mississippi Valley State, who like Texas Southern, entered the game riding a 16-game losing streak.

Defensive end Corey Hart returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown less than a minute into the game and A&M scored on its four offensive possessions as the Bulldogs extended the Delta Devils' losing streak to 17 in a row with a satisfying 37-14 Southwestern Athletic Conference victory before an announced crowd of 16,827 at Louis Crews Stadium.

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Alabama A&M football: Cruz's courage inspired Bulldogs in Saturday's win

Huntsville, Alabama -- HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Right offensive tackle Alan Cruz went down with a knee injury midway through the second quarter Saturday night against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

When Alabama A&M took the field to start the third quarter, Cruz was back in the lineup and played rest of the game as the Bulldogs scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to claim a 28-27 victory.

A&M coach Anthony Jones praised Cruz Monday.

"That kid showed a lot of heart," Jones said. "He went in at halftime and got some treatment on it and came back and played the rest of the game. I don't know how bad he is. I asked him was he going and he said yes and he played well. His courage inspired a lot of people on that sideline."



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Southern tops Alabama A&M

Baton Rouge, LA - Dray Joseph believed he was a better quarterback. He felt it.

In the days after Joseph and the Southern football team lost an ugly season opener, Joseph said he focused on his playbook and trusted his instincts. He also prayed.

Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium, hours before the Jaguars began Southwestern Athletic Conference play with a stunning 21-6 victory over Alabama A&M, the sophomore quarterback wrote a biblical verse, Mark 9:23, on one of his taped wrists. Everything is possible for one who believes.




Saturday night, Joseph believed in himself, and his teammates believed in each other.

It certainly showed.

In a virtuoso performance that stunned almost as many Southern fans as it did the visiting team, the Jaguars ripped apart Alabama A&M’s secondary for 332 passing yards ...

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Southern notes: Jaguars end skid at 7 games

If you believe Southern football coach Stump Mitchell, the results of Saturday’s 21-6 victory over Alabama A&M were not surprising at all. Not to him. “No,” the second-year coach said. “Last week was shocking.”

Mitchell was referring to last week’s season-opening 33-7 loss at Tennessee State, during which the Jaguars were often manhandled at the line of scrimmage.

At the time, it dropped Mitchell’s record to 2-10 at Southern. It also extended the team’s losing streak to seven games, including a six-game slide to end last year.

“It was only a one-game losing streak for this team,” Mitchell said. “But for me, it was seven or eight, or whatever it was. It was too long.”

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QB Mason takes road less traveled

Huntsville, AL - At the end of every summer workout and practice in the grueling heat, Alabama A&M quarterback Deaunte Mason and his teammates closed with this: “SWAC Champs.”

For Mason, and his teammates, that is the ultimate goal. Instilling this motto, as Mason characterizes it, made A&M shake off the feeling of a 3-8 season in 2010. The 21-year-old Mason’s journey to Huntsville, Ala., was a road he didn’t expect to travel.

Named Tennessee’s Mr. Football for Class 3A in 2008, Mason passed for 2,375 yards, rushed for 1,052 yards and scored 35 touchdowns as a senior at Pearl-Cohn High School, in Nashville, Tenn. His strong senior season garnered a scholarship from the University of Kentucky.

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New uniforms on way for Alabama A&M band; fundraiser ongoing

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- As the marching band director at Alabama A&M University, Derrick Yates has a problem. Well, maybe not a problem, exactly. "A new challenge," is how he put it.

Either way, he has work to do. You see, when school President Dr. Andrew Hugine kicked off a fundraiser to purchase 300 new band uniforms, he told Yates that band members should look as good as they sound. After seven years, the uniforms were worn and tattered. When the uniforms arrive by midseason, Yates will have a tougher time making the band sound even better than it looks.

"Dr. Hugine recognized as soon as he entered the university and saw us performing ...



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Alabama A&M: Seniors eager to live up to expectations

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Alabama A&M's 2008 recruiting class was supposed to be the group that would keep the Bulldogs among the Southwestern Athletic Conference's elite.

Under Anthony Jones, A&M won more games (49) than any team in the league from 2002-2007 and when the Bulldogs signed 32 players in 2008, including the likes of Rico Porch, Willie Fuller, Clarence Morris, Markeith Cliatt, Lewis Graham and Trent Johnson, they had what they believed was a banner recruiting class.

Three years later, the class that was slated to keep A&M among the league's elite hasn't had much to celebrate.

The Bulldogs won the Eastern Division title in 2009 and advanced to the SWAC championship game before losing to Prairie View.

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Alabama A&M baseball building on enthusiasm of coach Ed McCann

AAMU Coach Ed McCann

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- He had eight players and no uniforms. Mathematics, the rules of baseball and logic tell you that might not be the most ideal way to build a college baseball program.

"The uniforms had vanished in the middle of the night," said first-year Alabama A&M baseball coach Ed McCann of the situation he inherited. And, as for his office, "it was early-auction furniture. It looked like it came over on the Mayflower."

That Alabama A&M has a baseball team may be news to some. That is has a chance to reach the Southwest Athletic Conference tournament by winning two of three against Jackson State in the next two days may be more shocking news. Even, he will confess, to Ed McCann.

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'BIG SPOON': Former SHS player to showcase his football talent in all-star game

AAMU's  Frank "Big Spoon" Kearse

Frank "Big Spoon" Kearse's ability to make the best of situations could result in an NFL job.

A 6-foot-5, 310-pound senior defensive tackle at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Kearse got his nickname as a freshman because Justin Harper, a junior defensive tackle at the time, noticed Kearse ate all of his meals with a spoon.

"I didn't really know the campus and the cafeteria and stuff like that, and the first thing I always saw when I went in the cafeteria was the spoons," Kearse said during a telephone interview last week. "There were forks on the other side, but I never knew about the other side. My teammates noticed that I ate everything with a spoon for the first couple of months after I got here."

A&M's Kearse Named to NFL Players Association Game, formerly the Texas vs. The Nation Game

NORMAL, AL – Defensive lineman Frank Kearse was recently named to the Texas versus the Nation All-Star football contest to be held in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 5, 2011.

Kearse complied four memorable years on “The Hill”. The 6-5, 325 pound, defensive tackle amassed 122 tackles, five passes defended, three forced fumbles, two fumbles recovered, a block kick, 44 games played, 7 sacks for 35 yards and 2 interceptions.

The Savannah, Georgia native participated in the Russell Athletic HBCU bowl which was played in Atlanta, Georgia on December 18, 2010 in the Georgia Dome. Before the start of the 2010 season Kearse was named to the 2010 Preseason All-SWAC first team, 2010.

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ASU-A&M prepare for Magic City Classic

Alabama State and Alabama A&M have significantly different goals for the rest of the season. ASU remains in the thick of contention for the Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division title, while A&M is trying to end a three-game losing streak and salvage a season gone sour. But for one week, both these teams have the same objective: win the Magic City Classic. In many ways, winning this game is one of the primary objectives for any season.

"This game goes a long way in determining whether you have a successful year," said A&M coach Anthony Jones. "You feel more pressure on this game than any other one. Nobody will accept any excuses for losing." The 69th playing of the Magic City Classic is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Legion Field in Birmingham.

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UAPB Beverly turns hitch route into game-winning catch

Dezmond Beverly didn’t have a single reception before Saturday night.

And with less than five minutes remaining, Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s freshman receiver had just one catch for 12 yards, which set up UAPB’s touchdown on the opening drive. His second catch proved to be even bigger.

Beverly ran along the Alabama A&M sideline, broke a tackle and sprinted 40 yards to the end zone with 4:09 left to wrap up the Golden Lions’ 21-14 come-from-behind victory over the Bulldogs.

“Had to make a play,” said Beverly, who was forced out of a redshirt year because of injuries to other receivers earlier in the season. “That’s what was going through my head. ... I broke the tackle ...

Golden Lions Outlast Alabama A&M Bulldogs 21-14

PINE BLUFF, Ark.- The University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions football team was able to grind out a critical 21-14 win over the Alabama A&M Bulldogs on Saturday night at Golden Lions Stadium.

Offensively Arkansas-Pine Bluff tallied 357 yards (103 R, 254 P) while AAMU amassed 338 total yards (235 R, 103 P). T.J. Shelton’s 19 yard reception put UAPB on the board first giving the Golden Lions a 7-0 edge early in the first quarter.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff went on to score a touchdown in the third quarter on a 8 yard Stephen Jones run tying the game at 14 all. A 40 yard Desmond Beverly touchdown reception with 4:09 left to play sealed the victory in UAPB’s favor.

Quarterback Joshua Boudreaux went 18-33 for 254 yards and two touchdowns. Raymond Webber continued to set the mold for Division I FCS receivers as he tallied 8 catches for 110 yards.

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Attendance: 11805

A&M investigates Thomas' eligibility

HUNTSVILLE, Al. - Alabama A&M conducted an internal investigation late last week on the eligibility of wide receiver Demetrius Thomas, The Times has learned.

Thomas, a transfer from Marshall, apparently spent four or five days at Texas Southern, sources said, before coming to A&M last month. A&M coach Anthony Jones said he couldn't comment on the matter Sunday and Monday. Sources say Thomas is the reason Jones and Texas Southern coach Johnnie Cole got in a heated exchange after the Tigers whipped the Bulldogs 32-9 on Saturday. Sources also say Jones and Cole reached a mutual agreement that Thomas, a 6-0, 170-pound redshirt sophomore from Mobile, wouldn't play Saturday. Thomas didn't make the trip with the team and wasn't made available to the media on Monday during Jones' weekly press conference. He also didn't practice Tuesday.

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Alabama A&M University Bulldogs Fight Song

STAND UP AND CHEER
CHEER LOUD AND LONG FOR DEAR OLD NORMAL
FOR TODAY WE RAISE
THE MAROON ABOVE ALL OTHERS

OUR NOBLE TEAM IS NOW FIGHTING
IS FIGHTING TO HARD TO WIN THE FRAY
WE'VE GOT TO WIN! WE'RE SURE TO WIN!
FOR THIS IS DEAR OLD NORMAL'S DAY

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

All-SWAC team not much changed

With Prairie View quarterback K.J. Black and Grambling defensive end Christian Anthony, 2009 SWAC offensive and defensive players of the year returning, it's no surprise the preseason 2010 All-SWAC preseason team looked similar — especially since PV and Alabama A&M were selected to repeat as respective division champions.

Anthony was a dominant defensive force who finished 10th in the league with 76 tackles and third overall in both sacks (8.0) and tackles-for-loss (15.0) in 2009. From the defensive lineman position he recorded five interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns. He led the league in fumbles forced with five, and he recovered three loose balls.

Black was last years' premier offensive threat in the SWAC, leading the Panthers to their first conference title in nearly half a century. Black threw for 225.9 yards per game and led the league in pass efficiency by nearly 30 points at 172.8. He tossed 22 TDs with just four interceptions.

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