The three Jackson State College followers posed for a photograph in entrance of the big HBCUs letters exterior Mercedes-Benz Stadium hours earlier than the beginning of the Cricket Celebration Bowl on a cool Saturday morning. The Jackson State College Tigers (11-2 total), winners of the SWAC title, and the South Carolina State College Bulldogs (9-2 total), as soon as once more winners of the MEAC convention title, had been assembly once more for the title of HBCU nationwide champion. December is school soccer bowl season, every week earlier the Southeastern Convention soccer champion Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Texas Longhorns for the crown of their respective convention, and now one other championship trophy was going to be held aloft among the many falling confetti.
“I waited a very long time to see that confetti,” Jackson State College head soccer coach T.C. Taylor mentioned after the sport. He joked concerning the delay from when he lifted the trophy and when the confetti started falling from the sky.
The ultimate rating of the sport might have been in favor of Jackson State by a pair touchdowns, 28-7, however that did little to remove from the setting that near 37,000 followers skilled on Saturday.
Photograph by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
It goes with out saying that the Celebration Bowl, the HBCU soccer nationwide championship recreation, is greater than only a school soccer bowl recreation. It’s rather more than that.
The Virginia State College Trojan Explosion Marching Band and the South Carolina State College Marching 101 Band carried out for followers earlier than the sport. Whereas each bands went by the motions, the band from Cross Keys Excessive College took a knee a number of ft away and watched. The influence that these famend school bands had on these highschool musicians won’t be correctly quantified for years to come back. The South Carolina State College Marching 101 Band additionally carried out the Nationwide Anthem earlier than the sport. With slightly below 12 minutes remaining earlier than kickoff, the Sonic Growth of the South, the Jackson State College marching band, started taking part in whereas the workforce’s Below Armour business performed on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium jumbotron. Throughout there have been HBCU colour, sound, satisfaction, and pageantry. If Saturday was the primary time a university soccer fan or future school pupil ever noticed or heard of an HBCU, it might definitely not be the final.
Some of the distinctive moments of the Cricket Celebration Bowl is the quantity of Black-owned media which are in attendance to cowl the sport yearly. Regardless of the cities of Mississippi and South Carolina having HBCUs to symbolize the respective states within the recreation, Black-owned and operated media from throughout the nation was in Atlanta to cowl the sport. HBCU Gameday, Black School Expertise, The HBCU Sports activities Lab, HBCU Nightly, Taylor Made Sports activities, Crush Sports activities Discuss, HBCU Go-TV, and the Carlos Brown Present had been a number of of the web sites, blogs, TV, and radio reveals in attendance.
Black-owned legacy newspapers such because the Mississippi Hyperlink and From the Hill, a podcast that focuses on Alabama A&M College athletics, had been additionally on the town to report the information surrounding the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
Throughout the recreation, numerous organizations, together with Disney, awarded scholarships to future HBCU college students or within the case of america Military, to ROTC college students. The deal with enriching HBCU college students in areas that aren’t on HBCU campuses is a rarity throughout school soccer bowl season, however not throughout the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
“Disney On The Yard is a proud company sponsor for the 4th yr of the Celebration Bowl. We imagine you will need to present up in areas and locations the place the persons are, and this recreation has confirmed year-over-year to be a spot of fellowship, custom, and heritage,” mentioned Dayna Lee Libby, Outreach and Engagement Director for Disney On The Yard.
The primary factors of the sport got here on a brief go from Jackson State quarterback Jacobien Morgan to sophomore receiver Joanes Fortilien for a landing early within the second quarter. The drive was 19 performs and took simply over 9 minutes to finish, so followers obtained to see a Cricket Celebration Bowl report for the longest offensive possession.
There was some protection throughout the recreation as nicely. When South Carolina State tried a pretend 44-yard area aim try, Jackson State’s protection stopped that run and took over on downs. That turnover on downs led to a two-play, 68-yard drive that was highlighted by a Morgan to sophomore receiver Isaiah Spencer 67-yard throw and catch right down to the South Carolina State one-yard line. The Tigers would go forward 14-0 with 5:39 remaining within the first half.
The primary-half highlights of the sport for the Bulldogs weren’t on offense, and so they weren’t on protection. The 2 performs got here on a 62-yard punt and unbelievable effort from the particular groups unit that downed the soccer on the Jackson State one-yard line with somewhat over three minutes to play within the second quarter and on a blocked Jackson State area aim try simply earlier than halftime.
Photograph: Itoro N. Umontuen/The Atlanta Voice
Following a scoreless third quarter, the ultimate quarter of the sport noticed Jackson State lengthen its result in 21-0 after a two-yard landing run by working again Irv Mulligan. The following offensive drive for South Carolina State noticed the most important go play of the sport when quarterback Eric Phoenix discovered sophomore receiver Nigel Johnson on a cross sample for 64 yards right down to the Jackson 18-yard line. Phoenix, the 2024 MEAC Offensive Participant of the Yr, scored his workforce’s first factors on a three-yard run to make the rating 21-7 with 11:13 remaining within the recreation. Jackson State would tack on one other landing to make it 28-7 with 5 minutes to play when Morgan discovered Fortilien once more for a landing.
After the sport first-year South Carolina State head soccer coach Chennis Berry mentioned his workforce performed “uncharacteristically” and “We don’t make excuses.”
“We didn’t get it achieved,” mentioned Berry, who added that he was “very, very happy with the season we had.”
Bulldogs senior offensive lineman Nick Taiste mentioned this wasn’t the final time this system was going to be taking part in within the Celebration Bowl. “This yr was additional particular.”
Berry added that he was employed 367 days in the past and this has been a journey. “The inspiration has been set,” he mentioned.
