Mississippi Valley plays home games on high school field after stadium deemed unsafe

(Los Angeles Times) ITTA BENA, Miss. — Karl Morgan walked down the cracked sidewalk, stepping over players getting dressed for practice, putting on socks and cleats.

Then, the Mississippi Valley State coach gestured out toward dilapidated Rice-Totten Stadium, which has been deemed unsafe because of structural damage. "You can't sugarcoat our facilities, just like you can't sugarcoat our record," Morgan said. "We're trying to improve both of them."

The stadium named for the program's Hall of Fame alum Jerry Rice has fallen on hard times. Earlier this year, an engineer deemed MVSU's stadium unsafe because of extensive problems with the stadium's concrete foundation, so the Southwestern Athletic Conference program has played all of its home games 45 miles off campus on a high school field in Greenville. 

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JMU Smacks N.C. Central, 56-7

HARRISONBURG, VA – A week ago, a football team from Durham, N.C., slapped some of the swagger from James Madison. Saturday night, against another team from the same city, the Dukes grabbed it all back. With quarterback Rodney Landers bouncing back from a nightmarish effort against Duke, JMU scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions to stomp North Carolina Central 56-7 in front of 15,518 fans on a surprisingly bright evening at Bridgeforth Stadium.

“Anytime you lose, people nitpick, find something to say,” Landers said. “We know what we can do because we're out at practice every day. We throw the ball around a lot, we change it up. Tonight I think we showed a little bit of that versatility.”

Nobody had more to prove than the senior quarterback, who committed three turnovers before being benched for JMU’s final possession in a 31-7 loss at Duke last weekend. Saturday, Landers was at his most efficient, finishing 13-for-17 through the air for 164 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 31 yards and a score on three carries.

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Attendance: 15,518 (100%) @ Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, VA (Capacity: 15,500).

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