Thomas Back From Injury

After sitting out two games due to a ankle injury, Albert "A.J." Thomas is back action as the Delaware State Hornets men's basketball team conclude a three game road trip as they take on George Washington of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Thomas made eight points, five assists, and two rebounds during the Hornet's home opener versus Cairn University back on November 2. On that same night A.J. was the named the starter at point guard and was picking up where he left off from last season making plays and learning new ones along the way.

No word yet at this time on whether or not Thomas is in the starting lineup come tip off but none the less he will get a chance a play tonight. The only question I have is how many minutes will coach Greg Jackson Sr. let A.J. stay on the floor?

My guess is not very long due to the fact he might play a little rusty trying to drive to the basket score or passing the ball to his fellow teammates. After the buzzer sounds tonight, win or lose, he will need a lot of rest and practice between Wednesday and Sunday when DSU play University of Delaware this Monday night in Dover. I guarantee Delaware's Jarvis Threatt (the brother of DSU alumni Jay Threatt) will give Thomas a whole lot of problems on offense and defense.

From Goat to Hero

Throughout most of the season the Delaware State Hornets special teams has been inconstant. From giving up punt/kickoff returns for touchdowns, bad snaps, and bad punts. To blocked punts, blocked field goals, missed field goals, and fumbling the football on the returns.

During Saturday's 22-20 victory over Howard, Delaware State's special teams had to deal with another tough and speedy Bison team that burned you from all angles.

Lets start with the 2nd quarter after the Hornets tied the game at 7-7. Mitchell Ward made a squib bounce kick to Howard's Richard Aiyegoro and Hornets special teams coverage couldn't catch up to Aiyegoro's speed as he went 75 yards for the score. That helped the Bison retake the lead at 14-7.

With less than 65 seconds left before halftime, DSU scored on a 80 yard drive to cut the Bison lead to 14-13 when Ward missed his 1st extra point of the season. He made 43 straight extra point prior to that miss.

Then in the 4th quarter, the Hornets cut the Howard to 20-19 when punter Marco Kano couldn't hold on to the high snap and gets tackled in a hurry by Howard's special teams defense.

So whats left for the Hornets to do? This is where Ward became a hero with less than 1:58 left:

Mitchell made a successful onside that went 10 yards when his teammate wide receiver Milton Williams used his six foot, six inch height to out jumped almost the entire the Bison special teams to recover the onside kick and give Delaware State their chance to win the game.

The Hornets started their drive at midfield and drove it all the way to the Bison four yard with one second left. So what they Ward do to make up from his two missed extra points, kicked a game winning 28 yard field goal that send Hornet fans, his family, and their football team into a celebrating frenzy. After making the game winning field goal Ward ran all the way to the other end of the endzone only to be dog piled by his teammates.

You know what, that game winning kick remind me of Peter Gardner back in 2007 when he made two game winning field goals on the road vs South Carolina State and Winston-Salem State. He also made a game tying field goal when time expired in regulation vs Norfolk State at home to forced over and we all know what happened in overtime.

A great win for Delaware State and a great win for special teams that handled pressure with the game on the line.

Morre Out For The Season

As reported on the dsuhornets.com website under the game notes for today's game vs Howard, Hornets safety Devon Morre is out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.

Morre hurt his knee at practice three weeks ago and since then showed no signs of healing whatsoever. Devon was leading the team in tackles at 7.7 tackles a game and he is also ranked 13th in the MEAC in that same category before the injury occur.

Now the Hornets defense will have to rely on linebacker Ernest Adjel to helped lead the charge. A task he has no problem with leading the Hornets in tackles (7.9) and 15th in the MEAC in that same category.

Lets hope the Hornets defense can kick it into another gear in Morre's absence for the season. The Hornets defense will have to fill in the gaps and make big tackles if they want to have a winning record. So far DSU is 1-1 in Moore's absence.