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Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

FVSU seniors ready for home finale

FORT VALLEY — Robert Jackson and Jerel Hall both heard the same things when they showed up at Fort Valley State so long ago.

“Look to your left and look to your right. Those people may not be there long.”

Jackson laughs at the memory.

“They were telling the truth,” the defensive end from Jonesboro said. “I’m the only one left. I’m the oldest, not age-wise, but being here. There’s a lot of two-year and three-year seniors.”

The defensive end and tight end are the two most veteran Wildcats who will be playing their final game at home today when FVSU hosts Kentucky State on homecoming.

Defensive tackle Sergio Pengel, quarterback Nate Samas and offensive lineman Anthony Washington are three more of the few who have been at FVSU their entire college careers.

“I’ve seen a lot of people come and leave,” said Jackson, who returned to the starting lineup after a knee injury to Alex Cook against Edward Waters. “A lot.”

So he doesn’t have anybody to reminisce with about their freshman season because everybody’s gone. Hall doesn’t have many left from the 2005 class, either.

“I didn’t expect that,” Hall said of that warning. “I’m like, ‘Nah, that can’t be true.’ But there’s only about four or five of us.

“I was thinking about it the other day. It seemed like just yesterday I got here.”

One positive for this year’s senior group is that it had only one losing season — even Jackson, who has been at FVSU for six seasons, courtesy of a redshirt and medical redshirt — and that was in large part because John Morgan was fired in May of 2006 and Deondri Clark hired only about six weeks before preseason practice started.

But the Wildcats also continued their streak of falling short of the postseason, a place they haven’t visited since 2001. And that’s one reason why Jackson and Hall are dealing with their third head coach at FVSU.

Nevertheless, they still have an outside shot at the playoffs, can finish with a respectable 7-4 record and — perhaps most important to fans — win on homecoming.

“We’re keeping them in, closed, packed in and tight,” head coach Donald Pittman said regarding the avoidance of distractions. “I showed them film of the offensive side of the ball for Benedict, and how hard they played, and it was their homecoming, and they played really hard.

“We have to play really hard for homecoming.”

Kentucky State isn’t the best homecoming opponent to be hosting.

“No, they’re not,” Pittman said. “They’re scary. They have a very good offense a very good quarterback, one running back (Shannon Frieson) has run for (893) yards and another for (746).”

The Thorobreds are 5-4 overall and 3-4 in the SIAC with conference wins over Stillman (24-15), Clark Atlanta (31-13) and Miles (21-6).

FVSU pounded KSU 59-21 a year ago.

“We came out and didn’t play around,” senior linebacker Trent Newton said. “We came out ready to play. I think it was their homecoming, and we took that as disrespect, and I’m pretty that’s how they’re taking this game.”

The Wildcats still have an outside shot at the playoffs but can’t slip up today or next week against Albany State. Effort and intensity shouldn’t be issues.

“I’ve talked to a couple of (recent seniors),” Jackson said. “They said, ‘Just play hard; you can’t get it back.’ ”