MOBILE, Ala. - The University of South Alabama football team will take part in its first Homecoming Weekend celebration as it plays its final Saturday contest of its inaugural season.
The Jaguars, who are 5-0 entering play, will take on 7-3 Milford (N.Y.) Academy, with kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m. at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Festivities will begin Friday with an open house at the new football field house from 4:30-5:30 p.m., followed by an hour-long alumni lawn party outside Alumni Hall. The Homecoming parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. - University President Gordon Moulton will serve as the grand marshal, and it will feature Miss America 2009 Katie Stam - with a pep rally and bonfire scheduled afterwards to take place at the track across from the Mitchell Center. The Homecoming king and queen will be crowned at halftime as well, while USA's men's cross country team and three women's cross country runners will be recognized prior to competing in the NCAA South Region meet on Nov. 14 during the first timeout of the first half.
Additonally, Saturday will be recognized by the USA Department of Athletics as Joey Jones Youth Sports Day. All youth participants, cheerleaders, band or any other related organization tied with youth sports wearing their uniform will receive free general admission tickets, while all parents and guardians can purchase tickets for just $5 each.
Tickets for the game can be purchased online at www.usagameday.com, by calling the USA Athletic Ticket Office at (251) 461-1USA (1872) before 5 p.m. Friday or in person by visiting the Mitchell Center ticket office on campus by the end of the day Friday. Tickets can be purchased on the day of the game at the stadium beginning at 10 a.m.
The stadium parking lot will open and tailgating will begin at 8 a.m., with the Jaguar Prowl starting when the team arrives at 1:40 p.m. at the northeast end of the stadium. Gates will open at 2 p.m.
On the field, the Jaguars - who are in the middle of a stretch of three games in 12 days - are coming off a 64-6 victory over Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy. The Falcons, on the other hand, fell 18-0 at Erie (Pa.) J.C. last weekend, snapping a three-game win streak.
"We feel like there are some similarities between what they do and the last few teams we've played," commented Jag head coach Joey Jones. "They put eight people in the box and play man coverage on the outside on defense, which is a little different than what we've seen other than Georgia Military. On offense they use multiple sets like pretty much everybody we've played, although they won't have the 42 formations we had to defend last week."
Three Jaguar quarterbacks combined to complete 14-of-17 throws for 321 yards last time out, as it was the first time USA has posted more yards through the air than on the ground this fall. Brennan Sim led the trio with a 9-of-9 performance for 130 yards and a score, while Myles Gibbon completed a pair of passes for 64- and 60-yard touchdowns to Courtney Smith on the Jags' first two plays from scrimmage. Nick Owens, who was 3-of-4 passing, added a 53-yard scoring strike to Kelly Vail.
Gibbon leads the group with 505 yards passing and six touchdowns this fall, although Sim and Owens are completing 81 and 91.7 percent of the attempts, respectively. Smith has 14 receptions for 324 yards and four scores to pace USA's wideouts, while Lamontis Gardner and Vail both have an average of better than 27 yards per catch.
Santuan McGee led the team with five carries for 39 yards and a score against the Blue Devils. Still, Brandon Ross - who has at least one touchdown in each of the Jaguars' five games - paces USA with 368 rushing yards, nine scores and a 7.2 yard-per-carry average. Despite gaining a season-low 60 yards in the win over FUMA, the Jags are averaging 228.6 yards per contest on the ground.
Despite being shut out a week ago, HA is scoring better than 28 points per outing. The Falcons have surpassed the 30-point mark on six occasions this season with a high of 48 in an eight-point victory over Army Prep on Oct. 9.
The Black Knights are the only common opponent the two schools have, as USA defeated Army Prep 56-0 Sept. 26.
The Falcon offense is led by Travon Van. He has rushed for 313 yards and six touchdowns, adding 19 catches for 211 yards and another three scores. Devorn Kinsey has also caught 19 balls for a team-best 308 yards and Austin Baker has 163 yards receiving, with each player reaching the end zone three times as well.
MA quarterbacks have combined to complete 41.4 percent of their passes attempts, recording 18 touchdowns against 17 interceptions.
"They have a couple running backs who are big-time players," Jones observed. "I think they're better offensively than what we've seen from the last couple of weeks."
The Jaguars held Fork Union to an opponent-low 191 total yards after surrendering minus-22 yards on 34 carries last weekend. That included recording eight sacks of Blue Devil quarterbacks among 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Ken Barefield, Cori Barnett and Enrique Williams all made five stops apiece to lead the unit in the contest.
USA forced four turnovers in that contest as well, the fourth time in five outings they have accomplished that feat. Both Clifton Crews and Montavious Williams scored touchdowns on fumble recoveries, with Zach Brownell and Jerron Mitchell intercepting passes in the first half too.
Brownell and Mitchell have picked off five and three passes, respectively, this fall.
Justin Dunn leads the Jags with 32 total tackles and seven stops behind the line of scrimmage, pacing a unit that has not allowed more than 240 yards since a season-opening victory over Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy on Sept. 5. Anton Graphenreed has chipped in with 21 stops, while Crews' 3.5 sacks lead the team.
Mathew Fallico paces the MA defense with 80 total tackles, including 13 behind the line of scrimmage, while Todd Thomas has posted 66 total stops to go along with a team-best four interceptions. Chris Connolly leads the unit - which has forced 32 turnovers and scored five touchdowns - with 17 tackles for loss and eight sacks.
Special teams played a significant role in the Jags' victory over FUMA. Ralph Turner returned the opening kickoff of the second half 85 yards for a touchdown, adding a 23-yard punt return, while Erling Riis collected 50 yards on four punt returns. Michel Chapuseaux - who stands second on the team with 29 points - made his second field goal of the year against the Blue Devils while adding five extra points, and both of Scott Garber's punts ended inside the 20-yard line as he averaged 40 yards per kick.
Falcon placekicker Igor Garcia is tied for the team lead with 54 points. He has converted all 33 points-after-touchdown, and has made 7-of-16 field-goal attempts as well.
Buses from the USA campus will run at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. and are open to the general public - there is no charge for students, and it costs $5 round trip for all other individuals. Shuttles from the Bel Air Mall will begin running at noon from the south parking lot behind Target and JC Penney, with the cost $2.50 for a round-trip ride. Continuous service will provided until 90 minutes after the completion of the game.
Other athletic events on campus Homecoming weekend include the men's basketball team facing West Florida in an exhibition contest at the Mitchell Center Thursday at 7:05 p.m., a Sun Belt Conference volleyball match that will start at 7 p.m. Friday and women's basketball taking on UWF Sunday at 2:05 p.m. in an exhibition game at the Mitchell Center.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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