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Showing posts with label Coach Anthony Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coach Anthony Jones. Show all posts
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The number of hours he spends in his office are too many to count, but it is inside those four walls at the George H. Hobson Field House where Alabama A&M football coach Anthony Jones finds solace.
It has been well documented that Jones doesn't get out as much as he should to sell his program and he needs to hire an offensive coordinator, but his formula has worked well the last nine years. During that span, he has fashioned a 64-41 record, won a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship and played for the title on three other occasions, most recently in 2009.
He has averaged more than seven wins per year, more than any coach in school history, including Louis Crews, A&M's all-time winningest coach. He has a pair of nine-win seasons to his credit, something nobody else has done at A&M, and he has three eight-win seasons. That had only been done seven times before Jones arrived.
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Alabama A&M defensive tackle Frank Kearse was selected by the Miami Dolphins Saturday in the NFL Draft. Kearse, taken in the seventh round, was the 231st player taken in the draft.
A 6-foot-4, 315-pounder, Kearse was a second-team All-Southwestern Athletic Conference selection after managing 57 tackles, including 30 solos and 14 tackles for loss last season. Kearse is the first A&M player taken in the draft since Johnny Baldwin was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2007.
Savannah High graduate Frank "Big Spoon" Kearse was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL draft on Saturday night. Kearse, a 6-foot-5, 310-pound defensive tackle, attended Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Ala.
Kearse said he was watching NFL Network at his Savannah home when he received a phone call from the Dolphins about 10 seconds before his name appeared on the television screen.
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A captain throughout the 2009 and 2010 season, Kearse was a second-team All-SWAC. He finished with 33 tackles, a career high 12 tackles for loss for 41 yards (11th in SWAC), 3.5 sacks for 41 yards, 3 quarterback hurries, a fumble and a forced fumble. Kearse was one of the four players to block a kick attempt. In 2008, he had 30 total tackles (nine solo), 3.5 tackles for loss (14 yards), 1.0 sacks (10 yards), two interceptions (six yards), and one pass break-up.
He was the only Southwestern Athletic Conference football player taken during the 2011 NFL draft.
HUNTSVILLE, AL. - Alabama A&M will play a former rival at home for the first time in over a decade along with a up-and-coming program in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in addition to its rugged Southwestern Athletic Conference slate of games as athletics director Betty Austin released the school's football schedule Thursday.
The Bulldogs' non-conference schedule features a trip to Hampton University and a home game against long-time Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival Tuskegee in addition to nine SWAC games.
"I think it's a very good schedule," Austin said. "We're returning a game at Hampton and our fans wanted Tuskegee for the Louis Crews Classic. What concerns me is...
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."
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.
HUNTSVILLE, Al. - Alabama A&M beat Tuskegee 73-70 Saturday night at Elmore Gym, but the Bulldogs paid a heavy price for the victory. Starting point guard Jabari Deshields, backup point guard Jeremy Crutcher, backup power forward Jonathan Inman and reserve forward/center Chris Burks were ejected with 3.9 seconds left. All four players must sit out Saturday's game at Alabama.
HUNTSVILLE, Al. - Anthony Jones was almost in tears late Saturday afternoon. Nobody would have blamed Alabama A&M's head coach if he had broke down and cried after the kind of the year the Bulldogs had. A&M finished its worst season in Jones' nine years with a 35-14 loss to Prairie View before an announced crowd of 3,967 at Louis Crews Stadium.
"It's been a long, rough year," said Jones' whose team finished 3-8 and lost six of its last seven games after starting 2-2. "It's over and we've got to start all over. I'm going to take a look at a lot of things because I don't like this feeling and I don't want to repeat it."
While his career didn't end like he wanted it to, Alabama A&M inside linebacker Afu Okosun was still proud. The Bulldogs' 35-14 loss to Prairie View was the final game for the 13 seniors, who began their careers with Southwestern Athletic Conference championships rings, but it ended it with the worst record since 1992. "It was one of those years," Okosun said. "When it rains it pours and it definitely poured this year. We kept fighting and trying to make the best of it and I'm proud of that."
OFFENSE: F. The Bulldogs managed just 271 total yards and committed four turnovers [- three interceptions and a fumble. Quarterback Justin Jones threw two interceptions in the end zone and also fumbled at the Prairie View 1 when the Bulldogs had a chance to tie the game midway through the second quarter.
GREENVILLE, Miss. - Alabama A&M won't finish last in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Eastern Division. The Bulldogs can thank Tony Green and Kaderius Lacey for that. The Bulldogs' talented tailback tandem combined for 234 yards rushing and scored a touchdown apiece as A&M beat Mississippi Valley State 21-7 Saturday afternoon at Greenville-Weston High School to snap its five-game losing and avoid finishing in the Eastern Division cellar.
"It was an ugly game, but we came out with the win and that was our goal," said Green, who finished with 118 yards on 22 carries. "You can't be too picky, especially with the way our season is going."
HUNTSVILLE, Al. - Before the season began, Alabama A&M backup quarterback Justin Jones figured he'd be lucky to play in a mop-up role.
Deaunte Mason, who started the final five games last season and led the Bulldogs to the Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division title and to the league championship game, was back and seemed poised to have a breakout year as a sophomore. Jones was content with learning the system. He missed last season after failing to qualify academically after signing with the Bulldogs following a terrific senior year at West Morgan High School in Trinity.
NORMAL, Ala. -- Brandon Bridge passed for four touchdowns and ran for another as Alcorn State scored 28 first-half points and defeated Alabama A&M 42-24 on Saturday. Three of Bridge's touchdown passes came in the first half, when the Braves (5-4, 4-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) built a 28-10 lead. He also scored on a 15-yard run in the second quarter.
HUNTSVILLE, Al. - Alabama A&M's defense, which has struggled over the last month or so, did so again Saturday against Alcorn State. The Braves, who entered the game averaging 30.5 points and almost 370 yards per game, scored on their first three possessions and four of their first five and compiled 302 yards in total offense in a 41-24 victory.
"We didn't execute on defense," defensive tackle Frank Kearse said. "We didn't come ready to play." Alcorn State quarterback Brandon Bridge, the leading candidate for Southwestern Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors, was 9-of-14 for 175 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed for 50 yards on 10 carries, including a 15-yard touchdown jaunt.
HUNTSVILLE, Al. - Alabama A&M, enduring its worst season in almost two decades, had seemingly come to life. The Bulldogs, who trailed Alcorn State by as many as 21 points at one time, had pulled to within 34-17 late in the third quarter and was driving toward yet another touchdown that could have made it a 10-point game. Unfortunately, like it has so many times this season, A&M self-destructed.
OFFENSE: C: Alabama A&M running back Tony Green had a career-day with 156 yards and a couple of touchdowns, but the Bulldogs committed three turnovers, including two interceptions by quarterback Justin Jones, one of which was returned 65 yards for a touchdown that gave Alcorn State a commanding 41-17 lead late in the third quarter. READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.
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.
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."
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.
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...
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.
Following last season, Rod Broadway knew he had to change something. Losing five games isn't quite the Grambling way. And, if it continued, Broadway, the school's fourth-year coach, might be looking for another job.
So, he instituted a more physical approach to practice. No more light practices with little or no tackling. Broadway made his players hit. "We are trying to change the way we play," he said. "I thought we were soft in some spots in the past." Through the first quarter of the 2010 season, Broadway has certainly proven one thing: his team isn't soft.
Alabama A&M is not having the traditional cupcake for homecoming. Far from it. Instead of putting a lightweight opponent on the plate to ensure that the alums go home happy, A&M is facing the traditional power of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Grambling State.
When the Bulldogs take on Grambling at 3 p.m. Saturday in Huntsville, they will be playing a program that has won five of the past 10 SWAC championships and has a 13-3 all-time record against A&M.
HUNTSVILLE, Al. - Under defensive coordinator Brawnski Towns, Alabama A&M has prided itself on stopping the run. Annually, the Bulldogs have been among the better teams against the run, not only in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, but in the nation and this season is no different. Through four games, A&M is allowing just 76.5 yards rushing per game.
"We've played the run pretty well the whole season," Towns said. While the Bulldogs have been stingy against the run this season, they have yet to run across a team with...
Alabama A&M quarterback Deaunte Mason got the most extensive playing time of his young career last season against Grambling and that performance propelled him into the starting lineup two weeks later.
Mason accounted for 229 yards in total offense and two touchdowns in A&M's 41-20 loss. He rushed for 122 yards on 11 carries, including a 66-yard touchdown jaunt in the first quarter that gave the Bulldogs an early 10-7 lead. Mason was 10-of-20 passing for 107 yards and a touchdown.
HUNTSVILLE, Al. - When Sonja Braxton brought her son, Alabama A&M defensive tackle Frank Kearse, to school four years ago, she took his house keys when she left.
Kearse told his mother he loved football and planned to go pro. He had escaped the traps back home in Savannah, Ga., [- his mom and dad both worked two jobs to make sure he had everything he needed-] and Braxton didn't want anything to distract him from reaching his goal.
f Deaunte Mason has one goal Saturday night against Southern, it’s that he spends more time standing on his feet as opposed to laying on the grass at Louis Crews Stadium.
Last week, Mason, a quarterback at Alabama A&M, was sacked seven times — knocked down and hit even more times — during a 32-9 rout by Texas Southern. With his linemen unable to protect him and Mason jittery, the offense managed just 197 yards of total offense, including 69 in the second half. Breakdowns up front occurred on both blitzes and base defense packages, drawing the ire of ninth-year coach Anthony Jones, who vowed improved play.
Southern wide receiver Corey Cushingberry, who suffered a left shoulder injury two weeks ago in the Jaguars’ loss to Arkansas-Monticello, is “doubtful” for Saturday’s game at Alabama A&M, coach Stump Mitchell said.
Cushingberry, a fifth-year senior from Istrouma High and a sprinter on the SU track team, hurt his shoulder on the first play of the UAM game, a 30-yard kickoff return that ended with him landing underneath two tacklers.
In a surprise turnaround, Southern football coach Stump Mitchell said at his weekly news conference Tuesday he plans to start Gary Hollimon at quarterback when the Jaguars open Southwestern Athletic Conference play in Normal, Ala., against Alabama A&M at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Hollimon, a senior from Gulfport, Miss., has been the team's starting tail-back this season. He moved into the position following preseason camp last year after beginning his career at the school as a quarterback. Sylvester Nzekwe, a sophomore, will start at tailback for the Jaguars.
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
HOUSTON, TX - Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones and Texas Southern coach Johnnie Cole exchanged words after the game was over and had to be separated. Jones said Cole said something to him and everything became chaotic.
"He said I was disrespecting him and his program," Jones said. "When I asked him for an explanation, one of his guys starting pushing me. I didn't throw a punch. I didn't try to throw a punch. I asked Johnnie what he was talking about and I told him he was being disrespectful.
"He ran off and the guy pushed me and (A&M sports information director) Brandon (Willis). Johnnie came back and I told him we could talk and people started grabbing me."
HUNTSVILLE, AL - Madison County District Judge Lynn Sherrod knows what happens too often to high-school dropouts. They show up in her courtroom.
"There's a direct correlation between school performance and delinquent behavior," said Sherrod, who tries juvenile court cases. In the prison population, "an overwhelming percentage did not graduate from high school," she said.
With that in mind, Sherrod spearheaded a recent trip to Alabama A&M University for freshmen at Butler High School. About half the class of 180 spent the day attending workshops on decision making and preparing for college as well as touring the campus.
Texas Southern stumbled like a punch-drunk boxer for three quarters against Alabama A&M on Saturday, landing only occasional jabs. The Tigers, however, had plenty left in the tank to deliver the knockout blow in the final period.
With an aggressive defense leading the way, TSU forced two turnovers and broke open a close game with 20 points in the fourth quarter to sprint past the Bulldogs 32-9 before 6,347 at Delmar Stadium.
HUNTSVILLE, Al. - The preseason is over for Alabama A&M. A run for a berth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game starts at Texas Southern Saturday. Kickoff is noon.
It is the first of nine straight grueling conference games for the Bulldogs after league officials elected to go back to the nine-game schedule after playing only seven each of the last two years.
"We're going to take it one step at a time," A&M coach Anthony Jones said Sunday afternoon, a day after the Bulldogs whipped Central State 45-0 in the inaugural Louis Crews Classic to even their record at 1-1. "We're going to get ourselves ready for this long bus ride and get down there and deal with the heat and the adversity of playing on the road."
HUNTSVILLE, AL - Alabama A&M's football program was at a crossroads nine years ago. The athletics director at the time, the late Jim Martin, convinced that A&M had outgrown NCAA Division II and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, led the Bulldogs to NCAA Division I-AA in football and Division I-A in all other sports and into the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
He hired Ron Cooper, a local product who virtually grew up on campus, played at Jacksonville State and later coached at Notre Dame and Louisville, to put A&M's football program on the map. Cooper did a good job, but could have done better had it not been for all of his off-the-field projects. When he left after going 22-23 from 1998-2001 and leading A&M to a berth in the 2000 SWAC championship game, Martin needed someone that could improve what Cooper had built.
HUNTSVILLE, AL - Demetrius Thomas could have gone to a number of different schools after he elected to leave Marshall. Southern Mississippi, South Alabama, Alabama State and Texas Southern pursued him. In the end, Thomas chose A&M and he couldn't be happier.
"A&M went to the SWAC championship game last year and I wanted to be a part of a winning program," said Thomas, a fleet-footed wide receiver from Theodore. It didn't hurt that the Bulldogs were in desperate need of some impact players after losing Thomas Harris, the school's all-time leading receiver.
HUNTSVILLE, AL - Bobby Goldsby looked near and far three years ago for a place to play college football. An undersized tight end, he was a decent high school player in Leominster, Mass., but didn't draw a lot of attention.
Goldsby knew about Grambling and Alabama A&M and sent his highlight tape to each school. Fortunately, A&M coach Anthony Jones called and offered him an opportunity to walk on.
"I watched him on film and I thought he had some ability, but he wasn't ready to play college football...
HUNTSVILLE, AL - While it has yet to play a game this season, Alabama A&M's offense looks like it will be pretty potent despite losing all-time leading rusher Ulysses Banks and all-time leading receiver Thomas Harris.
In a mock scrimmage against Tennessee State's defense, quarterback Deaunte Mason threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns and led the first-team unit to four scores in six possessions and the first defense came up with three sacks and forced four turnovers Saturday night at Louis Crews Stadium.
HUNTSVILLE, Al. - The goal hasn't changed for Alabama A&M's offensive line. Ever since offensive line coach Cedric Pearl came to town nine years ago, the Bulldogs have vowed not only to be the best unit in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, but the best unit in the South.
"We've got to perform at a high level because the offense can't function if we're not efficient," Pearl said. "We always want to shoot high. That's a standard we set and we try to work to reach that goal."
HUNTSVILLE, AL. - Experienced. Talented. Versatile. It sounds like an advertisement for a big name company. Instead, the words describe Alabama A&M's secondary. The Bulldogs, under long-time defensive coordinator and secondary coach Brawnski Towns, believe they can be one of the best units in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. They certainly have the experience to be.
Starting cornerbacks Korey Morrison and Chris Faush are fifth-year seniors. So are strong safety Ray Segura and will linebacker Marcus Thomas. Throw in junior free safety Rico Porch, who had 44 tackles and three interceptions last season, junior cornerback Clarence Morris and sophomore will linebacker Vernon Marshall, who had 49 tackles last season as a true freshman, and A&M has all of the ingredients to be solid in the secondary.
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The number of hours he spends in his office are too many to count, but it is inside those four walls at the George H. Hobson Field House where Alabama A&M football coach Anthony Jones finds solace.
