Rattlers!!! Florida Classic, 2 Years Straight…

THE TALE OF TWO TEAMS THAT JOINED THE SWAC TWO YEAR AGO AND SEEMS TO BE GOING IN TWO DIFFERENT DIRECTION, BUT IS IT REALLY?..

Well it seems that Jackson State has locked up the title for the SWAC’S East Division and will be playing for the SWAC’S championship. And even though there may be a slim opportunity for another playoff, it may be too large of a gap. But it seems that the main ingredient for this year’s Florida Classic was just good old rivalry. And so, the FAMU Rattlers and the Bethune Cookman Wildcats took to the field at Camping World Stadium.

If ever we could say that the game was closer than the teams records or even end results on the scoreboard, this was the one. Both teams appeared to be equally talented and matched up pretty well. From both quarterbacks squaring off, pretty evenly matched, FAMU’s QB, Jeremy Moussa would use his arm more so, as BCU’s Jalon Jones would mix between passing & foot speed for his primary weapons. Both teams running game were not a dominant factor. FAMU would score 1st & 2nd but BCU would stick around & not let the blowout happen early.

 The difference actually may have been directly related to coaching. It was several times whereas the Rattlers Coach Willie Simmons made aggressive but clever trick play calls that were during crucial momentum points, swinging it in FAMU’s favor. There was a play whereas it was a backwards pass to wide receiver, Xavier Smith, then he passed it back to Moussa, that went for a touchdown. It showed that the Rattlers were serious and not underestimating their opponent. They were going all out.

The game winner had to be the fake punt. This happened after Cookman had score 13 straight points with 2 back to back touchdowns. So, in the 4th quarter whereas they were within 7 points from tying the game, they were to continue a drive that seemingly stalled out. It was a bold call, and some may say desperate.  But the play worked and the drive resulted in a touchdown which extended the lead by 13, basically sealing the deal, Ending the game, as there were no longer any threats…