(Image source, video screenshot: Twitter/@DeionSanders)
All of the noise ceased for three hours.
To end a week where reports surfaced Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders impressed at an interview with TCU, Sanders returned to the sideline to coach the Tigers to a SWAC East division championship on Nov. 13, 2021. Jackson State (9-1, 7-0 SWAC) defeated Southern University (4-6, 3-4) 21-17 after trailing 17-7 in the fourth quarter.
JSU freshman quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw two touchdown passes to Tennessee-transfer Malachi Wideman in the final six minutes. After he completed the 50-yard game-winner to Wideman with 1:31 remaining, Shedeur went to “Coach Prime,” his father, and embraced him.
“God, I love you,” Coach Prime told Shedeur. “That was a great play, son. Whew, I love you, boy. I love you, son!”
Coach Prime is confined to a wheelchair after undergoing foot surgery. The division championship-clinching win was his first week back on the sideline after missing the previous three games while hospitalized.
Southern had one last opportunity to win after Shedeur’s final touchdown pass, but the drive ended in an interception by safety Shilo Sanders, another one of Coach Prime’s sons. Shilo transferred to JSU from SEC-program South Carolina.
“Happy sons @ShiloSanders & @ShedeurSanders = Happy Dad!” Coach Prime tweeted on Nov. 14. “@GoJSUTigersFB ‘I BELIEVE.'”
The victory marked JSU’s first division title since 2013. The Tigers are set to host the SWAC championship game on Dec. 4 in Jackson. The winner of the SWAC Championship advances to the Celebration Bowl, where the MEAC-SWAC champions face off in the unofficial Black College Football National Championship.
Continue reading, and watch the video of Shedeur hugging his father, on the next page.
