ATLANTA – Well it appears the third time’s the charm. After two unsuccessful trips to the Cricket Celebration Bowl, head coach TC Taylor, behind a dominant defensive performance, and a pair of first half scores secured the Jackson State Tigers their first Celebration Bowl in school history in a decisive 28-7 victory over MEAC Champion South Carolina State in front of 36,823 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
With the win, JSU ties a Celebration Bowl record for largest margin of victory (21) and avenges their 2021 Celebration Bowl loss to the Bulldogs (31-10). In addition, their defense held the Bulldog offense to the fewest points bowl history, eclipsing the nine points Grambling State held North Carolina Central to in 2016.
“This was an incredible run for this football team and these coaches,” Taylor said. The fans, I really can’t say enough. They really showed up for this team in the city of Atlanta for this game and these guys came out here today and dominated.”
Taylor, a former standout wide receiver at Jackson State, watched his team score on two 10-plus play drives (19 and 10), that both lasted under 30 seconds and never looked back.
JSU outgained the Bulldogs 383-211 in total yards, including a whopping 152-30 on the ground. Celebration Bowl Offensive MVP, Jacobian Morgan accounted for 257 total yards (233 passing and two passing TD’s).
Pacing the Tigers defense was Jeremiah Williams, who earned Defensive MVP, tallied three total tackles (one for loss).
The lone bright spot for South Carolina State in the game was All-MEAC linebacker Aaron Smith, who set a new Celebration Bowl record with 17 total tackles (12 solo) in the game, eclipsing both Jackson State linebacker Aubrey Miller and NC Central’s Reggie Hunter, who both tallied 11 in 2022 and 2016, respectively.
After a scoreless first quarter, Jackson State wasted little time putting points on the board after engineering a Celebration Bowl record setting 19-play, 78 yards that took 9:39, culminated by a Jacobian Morgan three yard touchdown pass to Joanes Fortilien. Gerardo Baeza’s PAT gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 11:26 remaining in the first half.
After thwarting a South Carolina State fake field goal attempt at the JSU 34 yard line, Morgan found receiver Isiah Spencer on a 67 yard post pass that gave the Tigers first and goal at the SCSU one yard line. One play later, Irv Mulligan barreled in from a yard out to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead after a successful Baeza’s PAT with 5:39 remaining in the first half.
In the first half, the Tigers held the Bulldogs MEAC Offensive Player of the Year Eric Phoenix and their vaunted offense to just 62 total yards, their lowest output of any game this season. Meanwhile Morgan for JSU was extremely efficient, going 9-12 for 139 yards and a score, coupled with a sound rushing attack by both Mulligan and Emari Matthews that grinded the clock.
In the third quarter, the Jackson State defense continued to give the SCSU offense fits, while using ball-controlled drives to keep the Bulldog offense off the field. On the second play of the fourth, the Tigers took a commanding 21-0 lead as Mulligan scored his second touchdown of the day from two yards out with 14:49 remaining.
On the ensuing drive, the Bulldogs finally showed some signs of life, engineering an 8-play, 80-yard scoring drive, highlighted by a 64 yard pass from Phoenix to Nigel Johnson that gave SCSU a first down in the JSU redzone. Six plays later, Phoenix cut the Tiger deficit to 21-7 with a two-yard keeper with 11:13 remaining. The graduate quarterback transfer from Murray State finished the game 13-31 for 143 yards and an interception although most of those came once the game was already decided.
With less than five minutes in the game and the Bulldogs attempting to drive the length of the field, Phoenix was intercepted by nickelback Shamar Hawkins at his own 34-yard line, who returned the ball 20 yards back to the SCSU 14. It only took one play afterwards for Morgan and Fortillien to hook up again, on a fade pattern in the corner of the endzone to give the Tigers a 28-7 lead and all but end any chances of a Bulldog loss.
The Tigers extended their winning streak to 10 games with the win and will certainly be crowned HBCU National Champions after finishing the season 12-2. With the loss, the Bulldogs end their campaign at 9-3 overall and snapped an eight game winning streak.
Head coach Chennis Berry, when asked about today’s game and season overall said,
“These are lessons that the players and coaches will learn for the rest of their lives. I’m very, very proud of the season we had in the young men that we were able to develop throughout the year. And kudos to Jackson State. They found a way to win a football game, and we fell a little short.”
