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Jackson State walked into Senior Day with no margin for error left, and the Tigers played like a team that knew it.
The Tigers hammered Mississippi Valley State 38 to 7 on Saturday at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, seizing control early and never letting go.
The win moves Jackson State to 7 and 2 overall and 4 and 2 in the SWAC, and it pulls the Tigers back into a tie at the top of the SWAC East.
Major Takeaways
- Jackson State beat Mississippi Valley State 38 to 7 at The Vet on Senior Day.
- Jared Lockhart threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns and added a rushing score.
- Jalen Foster intercepted two passes, and the second one set up an 81 yard touchdown one play later.
- The Tigers are tied for first in the SWAC East with two road games left to decide the race.
A Statement in the First Quarter
Any nerves inside The Vet lasted exactly one drive.
Lockhart took the first possession of the game and finished it himself, keeping the ball and racing 38 yards for a touchdown barely two minutes after kickoff.
Andrew Ivaniciuc added a 44 yard field goal later in the quarter, and the Tigers carried a 10 to 0 lead into the second.
Mississippi Valley State answered once. Dezmond Ray capped a drive with a 5 yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to cut the lead to 10 to 7.
That was the last time the Delta Devils scored all afternoon.
The Sequence That Broke the Game Open
Jackson State took a 17 to 7 lead into halftime after Joanes Fortilien hauled in a 25 yard catch down to the 2 yard line and Li’Darious Pryor punched it in on the ground.
The third quarter turned a solid win into a rout in the span of two snaps.
Defensive back Jalen Foster stepped in front of a Josh Brown pass near the sideline, his second interception of the day.
On the very next play, Lockhart found tight end Jency Riley Jr. in space, and Riley turned it into an 81 yard touchdown that brought The Vet to its feet.
Pryor struck again before the quarter ended, this time catching an 11 yard touchdown pass to stretch the lead to 31 to 7.
Fortilien closed the scoring late in the fourth quarter, slipping behind his defender for a 10 yard touchdown catch with 2 minutes and 27 seconds left.
Lockhart Delivered Like a Star
This was the kind of afternoon Jackson State has been waiting for from its young quarterback.
Lockhart completed 22 of 33 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns against one interception, and he added the opening rushing score on the ground.
The offense piled up 418 total yards, a sharp turnaround for a unit that had sputtered through much of the last month.
With weapons like Fortilien, Pryor, and Riley all finding the end zone, the Tigers looked like the most complete team in the division again.
Jackson State quarterback Jared Lockhart accounted for four touchdowns in the win over Mississippi Valley State. Photo by HBCU Gameday
The Defense Slammed the Door
As loud as the offense was, the defense may have been even better.
Mississippi Valley State managed only 171 total yards for the entire game, and the Delta Devils never scored again after the opening minutes of the second quarter.
Foster owned the secondary with his two interceptions, both of them off Brown, and the front kept the Valley ground game bottled up all day.
There was one scare. Defensive back B.J. Washington went down in the first quarter and the cart came out, but he walked off the field under his own power.
The East Runs Through Jackson Again
The scoreboard watching broke Jackson State’s way on Saturday as well.
Both Alabama A&M and Bethune Cookman lost, leaving the Tigers tied with Alabama A&M at the top of the SWAC East standings.
Jackson State already owns a win over Alabama A&M this season, a 31 to 28 victory back on October 3, which gives the Tigers the edge if the tie holds.
The history with Valley keeps growing too. Saturday marked the 12th straight win for Jackson State in the series, with the last loss coming back in 2014.
Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, home of the Tigers. Photo by Jackson State Athletics
Now comes the hard part. The Tigers close the regular season with two straight road games, at Alabama State on November 14 and the Soul Bowl at Alcorn State on November 21.
Win both, and the SWAC East title belongs to Jackson, along with the trip to the SWAC Championship Game that comes with it.
For a program and a fan base that measure seasons in championships, Senior Day delivered exactly what it had to. A statement win, a share of first place, and everything still in front of them.
More From the Yard
Fellow HBCU programs delivered drama of their own on Saturday, as South Carolina State outlasted Howard in a MEAC thriller.
And in the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons put their season on the line in Madrid.
