Jackets' 12th straight loss is a heartbreaker

It was flat-out cruel and unusual punishment.

One minute West Virginia State, a team karma has apparently forgotten about, had possession of the ball and a 14-3 lead in the third quarter and was seemingly on the verge of ending a dreadful 11-game losing streak.

The next minute, Virginia State defensive back Tyrell Smith was racing to the end zone after intercepting a Ricky Phillips pass in what turned out to be a crushing 17-14 loss for the Yellow Jackets in their home opener.

The brutality of the loss was evident as Phillips had to be consoled by coaches for several minutes after the game, and West Virginia State receiver Landon Johnson knelt alone with his head down even after coach Earl Monroe released the team.

"It's a tough one," Monroe said. "There are no moral victories. You show up to win and we had our chances. They fought hard, had a couple of costly turnovers, but we still have to be able to hold them down the stretch."

The momentum created from Smith's score noticeably rejuvenated the Trojans as State went three-and-out on its next possession followed by a nine-play scoring drive for Virginia State to give the visitors their first lead and end the scoring. Trojans quarterback Jarred Battle connected with Corey Young from 32 yards out for the decisive score.

Still, the Jackets (0-2) should take a lot away from the loss. Perhaps most notably, after over a year of getting torched and taking the criticism that comes with that, the Jackets defense finally showed up in a big way on Saturday.

In fact, Virginia State's 17 points were the fewest by a Yellow Jacket opponent since Aug. 29, 2009, a 6-0 win over Central State in the season opener. West Virginia State's defense yielded 64 points in the season opener last week, but Virginia State only mustered 277 yards of total offense compared to 292 for the Jackets.

"No question, they played with emotion and passion," Monroe said. "We simplified the game plan and took away a lot of the checks and double calls. We gave them some simple assignments and put them in a position where they could make some plays and they came out with some fire and played pretty well today."

Jackets defensive back Lorian Mallary, who had an interception deep in Virginia State territory to set up West Virginia State's second score, agreed with his coach.

"We had focused practices the whole week," Mallary said. "Everybody was doing their assignments. We had to make a 360 from last week. We have a young team and we have to click at the same time. Once we start clicking, we're going to be a team to be reckoned with."

The Jackets defense played the part on Saturday, much to the dismay of Virginia State coach Andrew Faison.

"I think our guys took them lightly, but they put their pants on just like we put our pants on and they wanted to win," Faison said. "We were flat when we came out and they were amped and it showed as far as how they ran and threw the football. The breaks just went our way."

Phillips finished 23-of-36 with 217 yards, two scores and two interceptions including one in the game's final 30 seconds with the Jackets inside Virginia State territory.

"He was pressing," Monroe said. "He got a rush, stepped up in there and was rolling to his right and tried to throw the ball outside his body and it got away from him. He probably should've thrown that away but I hope he'll learn from it. It was a kid just pressing and trying to make a play."

But Phillips wasn't the only Jackets player to make a mistake.

David Wissler missed a potential game-tying field goal early in the fourth quarter. That play was set up after receiver Solomon Wheat got in the way of a Phillips pass to a wide-open Ervin Kent in the end zone on third down that would have given West Virginia State the lead.

Kent was on the receiving end of a touchdown and caught four passes for 59 yards for the Jackets. LeFloyd Phillips caught three passes for 13 yards and a score while Wheat led the team with 72 yards and six receptions.

Battle threw for 211 yards on 19-of-32 passing and a touchdown for Virginia State (1-1).

West Virginia State gets a bye week before opening its conference schedule at 2 p.m. on Sept. 24 at Concord.

Reach Ryan Pritt at 304-348-7948 or ryan.pr...@wvgazette.com^[1].

References

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