Monday, September 12, 2016 Volume 101 Issue 5
student printz SERVING SOUTHERN MISS SINCE 1927
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Golden Eagles shut out Savannah State, 56-0: ‘Everything was bouncing our way’ JULIUS KIZZEE
sports editor
The Golden Eagles closed this contest as fast as they ran on the field in their opening home game of 2016. Savannah State, coming off of a 54-0 loss to Georgia Southern, came into the Rock looking to redeem themselves. The Golden Eagles, however, were too tough a matchup for the Tigers. “I thought we played with good effort today,” said Head Coach Jay Hopson. “I thought we prepared hard this week, and we were focused.” The Golden Eagles’ first score in the game came at the 5:33 mark in the first quarter with a Nick Mullens rush for one yard, which was his third touchdown scamper of the season. For the rest of the game, the Golden Eagles blitzed the Savannah State Tigers. “We had to handle business, go out there and get the dub,” said junior running back Ito Smith. “It’s big being balanced [offensively]. It’ll open up things in the run game. If you can run the ball, you can pass.” Before Mullens sat down toward the end of the second quarter, the senior quarterback threw for 216 yards and three touchdowns. Mullens also threw his fourth interception of the season on his first throw of the game. “You just got to shake it off,” Mullens said. “I have to protect the ball and get it over the guy, not throw it right at his hands.” The Savannah State quarterbacks were under duress all night. By the end of the first half, Southern Miss had tallied
Cam Bonelli | Executive Editor Quarterback Nick Mullens looks for an opening to pass the ball against Savannah State on Sept. 10, 2016. three sacks and hit the quarterback an additional two times. The defensive line held control of the game throughout. Combined, linemen
Dylan Bradley and Derrick Dixon tallied eight tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss in the first half. Southern Miss led Savannah State in
total offensive yards by a comparison of 420-9. The deficit would grow by the end of the game by a margin of 615-41. “Everything was bouncing our way,”
said receiver Marquise Ricard. “We just took what they were giving us. That just adds up in the long run.” The second half saw more of the same dominance. Southern Miss put in their backups as soon as they came out of the locker room after halftime. The secondstringers did not disappoint, extending the lead to 56-0 by the end of the third quarter. “Before the game, the leaders on the team and the coaches were stressing that as long as we execute and hold them to nothing that we would come out great,” said defensive lineman Xavier Thigpen. “We see our offense scoring and moving the ball. We’re just saying, ‘Let’s just go out there and execute so we can keep giving the momentum back to them.’” For the second game in a row, Southern Miss had at least two backs rush for at least 100 yards, with Ito Smith tallying 128 yards on eight carries. Running back George Payne added 116 yards on 14 carries. The defense, who shut out their first opponent since 2009 against Alcorn State, held Savannah State to 41 yards on offense, the fewest a C-USA team has ever allowed an opponent. The Tigers’ longest offense drive only went 26 yards downfield on any given drive. The defensive line led on through the night. By providing early pressure on the quarterbacks, the rest of the defense was able to play more freely and with less effort. “It was actually fun,” Thigpen said. “We were saying to either meet me or beat me [to the quarterback].” Southern Miss will host Troy at home on Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.
Students collaborate for National Day of Service LUKE SMITH
printz reporter
Several University of Southern Mississippi students volunteered their time on Saturday morning to help improve the Thames Elementary School’s community garden to commemorate the 15th anniversary of 9/11. The Southern Miss Center for Community and Civic Engagement coordinated the event as part of the 9/11 National Day of Service. “The #WeAreHattie Project is a collaborative project between Southern Miss through the CCCE, the United
Way and Volunteer Hattiesburg,” said Chris Ferrell, the program coordinator of the CCCE at Southern Miss. “We have collectively planned different projects throughout the Hattiesburg area just to give people different projects to do to benefit the community as a whole as our means of commemorating [9/11]. ” Perry Overstreet, a graduate student pursuing his master’s degree in forensic science, said it was important for him to give back to the community. “Hattiesburg is where I’m from, and I used to go here to Thames, so just to be able to give the kids a garden that they can come play in and maintain is a positive way to give
back,” he said. Overstreet said he still remembers the tragedy of 15 years ago. “I was in second grade,” he said. “On that day in particular, I remember my teacher’s daughter was a nurse in New York, so I remember her being panicked and people crying. We turned on the TV to the news, and we saw what was going on. We couldn’t quite grasp it at the time.” Members of the University Baptist Church, who have adopted the Thames Elementary community garden as a service project, were also on site to help. Church member Lida MacDowell recalled 9/11 better than most students at
the site. “It was a scary thing,” she said. “It was a very sad thing, and [it] made you want to help other people like they helped the people in New York.” “I remember I was in the ninth grade, so that would put me around 13 or 14 [years old],” Ferrell said of his own experience. “I remember when I first heard about what happened, I was in band, the first class of the day. Word was traveling, and a student that sat next to me told me what had happened. Then, as we went through the day to our different classes, our classrooms had TV, and we turned on the news, and that was the news on every channel all day.”
As far as what that means now, in the present day, being able to come together to remember that, out of a tragic event, we can still create something positive for ourselves and our communities. That’s what we’re doing here at Thames Elementary and with our other community projects throughout the weekend.” Volunteers throughout Hattiesburg participated in the two-day community service event at several locations across the city Friday and Saturday. The weekend’s activities concluded Sunday morning at Hattiesburg’s annual 9/11 memorial ceremony at the #1 Fire Station on Main Street.