UAPB defense does job, offense falters
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEJACKSON, Miss. -- Arkansas-Pine Bluff's defense held Jackson State 22 points under its season average, but the offense was once again a no-show.
The Tigers (5-2, 4-2) scored all their points off UAPB turnovers and held the Lions (3-4, 1-4) to 210 total yards in securing a 14-9 Southwestern Athletic Conference victory at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
With the loss, UAPB dropped its third consecutive conference game.
"We just can't do anything offensively,'' UAPB Coach Lee Hardman said. "We're having trouble catching passes, and we can't get the offense moving.''
UAPB was without starting receivers Mark Bradley and Tavoris Haynes, both of whom suffered season-ending injuries two weeks ago against Grambling State.
Trailing 14-9 early in the fourth quarter, the Lions failed to penetrate Tigers territory on their last three possessions behind quarterback Roger Linn, who began the season as a third-stringer.
Ron Johnson's fumble at the UAPB 48 midway through the third quarter set up a Jackson State touchdown. Robert Kent completed a 39-yard pass to Michael Goss while Laurence Nolen scored two plays later from the 1.
Johnie Neal added the extra point for a 14-6 cushion with 4:12 left in the third quarter.
With field position at the Tigers' 38 after a shanked punt, Linn completed a 19-yard pass to Dwight McKissic but UAPB settled for a 31-yard field goal from Aaron Wall with 12:20 remaining to cut the deficit to 14-9.
The Lions never threatened again offensively.
"We had four turnovers, and the mistakes just killed us,'' Hardman said. "The defense played a heckuva ball game considering they held Jackson State to 14 points on their field.
"But the offense put the defense in some bad positions.''
Aided by 61 first-half rushing yards by Johnson, the Golden Lions finished with 124 total yards but failed to score an offensive touchdown despite penetrating Tigers' territory on four occasions.
Special teams' play allowed UAPB to strike first. Demarius Jackson blocked a Jackson State punt while Tyrone Walker scooped up the loose ball and scored from the 11 with 2:37 left in the half.
Wall missed the extra point wide right, leaving the score 6-0.
Kent, who had made the first six starts of the season at quarterback for the Tigers, was sidelined until the last series of the first half with an ankle sprain.
Off the bench, Kent led Jackson State to a five-play scoring drive, capped by a 52-yard touchdown pass to Tim Manning with 56 seconds left. Neal's extra point gave the Tigers a 7-6 advantage.
Sparked by Johnson's 34-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, UAPB threatened just before halftime. As time expired, Wall's 50-yard field goal attempt fell just short.
This article was published on October 28, 2001
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