JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Saturday was a full-circle moment for Jackson State football’s Emari Matthews.

Head coach TC Taylor’s Tigers secured a thrilling 35-21 victory over Florida A&M in the biggest game of the season inside the electric atmosphere of Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“Wow, what a game. I can’t say enough about this football team, this coaching staff, and everything that occurred,” Taylor said after the win. “We worked out butts off and we’ve been working our butts off all year long for an opportunity to get a football game like this. I tell these guys all the time that this team is built for December. That was my goal with this football team and that was a championship game.”

“We were ready for this during spring ball and we’ve been going at it crazy during spring, summer, and fall camp. We knew we controlled our own destiny. We just put in on film,” Matthews said.

The junior running back began his JSU career as a walk-on and made his Jackson State debut against the Rattlers in the Orange Blossom Classic last season. He has since appeared in every game in the 2024 season despite being a member of a crowded, yet talented, running back room.

Against FAMU this year, it was his time to shine, ultimately having a career-best outing.

“Emari has come a long way,” Coach Taylor said. “[He was] a walk-on guy and he just came here and found a way on the football field… and that’s the type of team this is.”

Matthews was called upon mainly in the red zone. He got the scoring started for Jackson State with a four-yard plunge into the end zone and sealed the victory for JSU with just over a minute left in the game with a two-tard rush to record his first touchdowns in his collegiate career.

He thanked God for working through him and getting him to this point, and was happy to do something special for his mom’s birthday.

“I was ecstatic,” Matthews said after the game. “This whole week, I was low-key sad that I wasn’t going to spend time with my family because it was my mom’s birthday. It’s overwhelming. After the first touchdown, I came to the sideline and just broke down because it was like… I’ve been through so much. All the ups and downs, to just finally put all together and for y’all to see it… y’all didn’t see me tonight, y’all saw God through me.”

The Tigers now hold sole possession of first place in the SWAC East Division and are in the driver’s seat for a third appearance in the SWAC Championship in four years.

JSU will look to keep the momentum and its undefeated conference record going against Bethune-Cookman on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Daytona Beach. The game will be streamed on HBCU GO.

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