Does Alabama State football regret last play against Jackson State?
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The Week 13 win over Arkansas Pine-Bluff was bittersweet for Alabama State football (9-2, 7-1 SWAC), the Hornets won their ninth game of the season, something they haven’t done since 2004. The offense had its seventh game of the season in which it posted over 40 points, and the mood was still grim.
Alabama State watched closely as Alcorn State fell one score short of upsetting Jackson State, dashing the Hornets hopes of hosting a SWAC title game, facing the fact that it turned in its best season under coach Eddie Robinson Jr. and still not have a postseason bid.
Alabama State shares the same record as Jackson State, but a Tigers’ victory over the Hornets on Oct. 11 made all the difference.
The haunting fact that will loom over the Hornets is that they had had a solid chance to beat Jackson State in Week 7.
With one second left in the fourth quarter, down by four points, Alabama State had the ball on the Jackson State 2-yard line. Quarterback Andrew Body took the final snap and maneuvered to the short side of the field in what looked like a designed keeper.
Jackson State wasn’t fooled, using the short side of the field to its advantage to crowd Body in a hurry. In a last ditch attempt, Body decided to toss the ball to running back Jamarie Hostzclaw — who fielded the ball, but was tackled immediately at the 1-yard line. Game over.
“Not really. I think we could have executed the play better, I think, from that standpoint. But I like the call,” Robinson said about the final play of the Jackson State game.
“If it works, it’s a great play. No matter what play you run, if it works, it was a great call. If it doesn’t, you could have did the other stuff.”
Hostzclaw had two rushing touchdowns against Jackson State, and 240-pound running back Marcus Harris II added another. The Hornets easily could’ve put in a jumbo formation and let one of their running backs pick up the two yards. But for the Alabama State coaching staff, that one play isn’t keeping them up at night.
“It’s a lot of plays where we could have done a lot better just on defense and offense. And so say we ain’t coach and won nine games, possibly 10,” Robinson said. “But we’re looking to dominate and to have perfection. The goal was to win every game, even going back to the UAB game.”
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Will Alabama State football’s final play against JSU haunt coaches?
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