BATON ROUGE, La.—If the old saying “offense puts people in the seats, but defense wins championships is true, then that is exactly what happened in Alabama State University's 21-19 win over Southern University in the Hornets' final Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game of the 2010 season.

It was a defensive battle from the opening kickoff as ASU only managed 148 total yards for the game, while ASU held Southern to 266 total yards,with 113 of those coming in the fourth quarter against a tiring ASU defense.

SU scored first in the opening quarter when Joseph Dray hit LaQuinton Evans from nine yards out for a quick 7-0 lead.

ASU then proceded to score 14 consecutive points to take a 14-7 lead and never did relinquish that lead. The first came on a three yard plunge from Devin Dominguez with 6:30 left in the first quarter. The score was a short four-yard drive as Jacquez Rickerson set the score up with a 66-yard punt return.

Following a change of possession, the Hornets took over on their own 23 yard line and proceded to go 77 yards in 12 plays taking 4:31 off the clock. The drive ended with Dominguez hitting Charles Payne from 21 yards out for the lead. The play was the final play of the first quarter.

ASU made several big plays on special teams. The first coming with ASU holding a 14-10 lead and Demarques Taylor broke through the line to block a William Griswold field goal attempt. Jacquez Rickerson picked it up and went 56 yards to set up Dominguez's second touchdown pass from 12 yards out to give ASU a 21-10 lead, which is what the score was at halftime. Little did anyone know that would be all the scoring ASU would do for the game.

ASU had a chance to add to its lead on the opening drive of the second half. After Quendarius McKibbon returned the second half kickoff 39 yards, the Hornets drove to the 13 yard line before the drive stalled. Andrew Lyons 30 yard field goal went wide and the score stayed that way until the fourth quarter.

A Griswold 34 yard field goal cut the lead to 21-13 and set up a hectic final 12 minutes of the game. After the teams traded punts, SU took over on their on 14 yard line with 5:54 left. The Jaguars then drove 86 yards in 13 plays as Sylvester Nzekwe scored from a yard out to cut the lead to 21-19 with only 15 seconds left in the game.

After the score, SU was called for a personal foul which pushed the two-point conversion back to the 17 yard line. The try for the conversion failed and ASU still led 21-19.

That meant ASU had to recover the onsides kick. SU wound up recovering the kick, but was called for offsides. After the mark off, the Hornets were able to recover the kick and run out the final seconds of the game to wrap up the Eastern Division Championship and will now face Texas Southern for the SWAC Championship on Dec. 11^th in Birmingham.

“Any time you come on the road and get a win, you have to be happy,” Head Coach Reggie Barlow said. “I am not happy with the way we played but I am happy with the win.”

MKibbon led ASU in rushing with 48 yards. Andrew Pitts was just behind with 47. Dominguez only completed five of his 16 pass attempts for 40 yards and the two scores.

This game was won on the defensive side of the ball where Kejuan Riley added to his league-leading interception total with his seventh pick in the third quarter.

Rickerson also added another pick, which he returned for 28 yards and was just tripped up by the SU quarterback or he would have returned it for a score.

Nigel Carr led the defense with seven tackles including a tackle for lost yardage. Kynjee Cotton, Derrick Billups and Le'Andre Crawford recorded sacks for ASU and the Hornets had seven stops behind the line of scrimmage.

Jeremiah McGinty had a game-high 68 yards rushing from his quarterback positions. Most of those yards came on scrambles as the Hornet defense spent the entire game chasing him out of the pocket.

“We knew Southern was going to be a tough game,” Barlow said. “They have an exciting and athletic quarterback that gives everyone a hard time.”

McGinty and Dray combined to complete 13 of their 41 pass attempts for 128 yards and the lone score. Anthony Balancier led the Jags defensive efforts with a game-high 10 tackles including a sack and 3.5 tackles for lost yardage.

“We are happy for the championship,” Barlow said. “This victory is big for our program. I am happy for the seniors who have been through a lot during their time at ASU and I am happy for the coaches who have worked so hard to make this happen.”

ASU moves to 7-3 overall and 6-3 in SWAC action. The seven wins for ASU are the most wins since 2004 season when the Hornets were SWAC Champions with a 10-2 record. Southern falls to 2-8 overall and 1-7 in the conference.

The Hornets will now be off until the Turkey Day Classic on Thanksgiving Day, when they will host Tuskegee University at 3 p.m.

-Hornets­-