You remember the picket signs. The angry alumni. The protests.

Oh, yeah, you remember.

It was a winless 2000 season that had folks at Alcorn upset, and at the time they had the same level of respect for head coach Johnny Thomas as a die-hard Jackson State fan the week of the Capital City Classic.

They wanted him gone. Didn’t think he was the right person for the job. And were quite vocal about it.

And, truth be told, those critics really haven’t gone away. It’s no secret that during the Braves’ four-game skid earlier this year their voices were becoming louder and louder.

The critics were probably ready to pump up their volume following Saturday’s game against Alabama A&M, a game the Braves absolutely needed to stay in the hunt for the Eastern Division crown of the SWAC.

So when the Braves overcame a slow start to take a huge 20-15 win to knock the Bulldogs &045; the two-time division champ &045; nearly out of the picture, they enjoyed the heck out of it after two years of coming up short in this type of situation the last two years.

It’s one they’ll remember.

&uot;This team is very special to me,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;I have a great deal of love and admiration for them, especially the seniors. We’ve gone through a great deal of things together. People understand what we’re trying to do here, and these guys just didn’t want to lose the football game today. It was the seniors’ last game here, and they put forth the effort necessary to win the football game.&uot;

These Braves deserve credit. Saturday’s game didn’t start out well, and they fell into a hole early and weren’t giving the handful of fans in attendance much hope with turnovers early and the like.

But much like the season and the program since that tumultuous 2000 season, they just kept fighting and kept fighting. The Braves’ defense played inspired ball in the second half after the offense scored the team’s first touchdown, and the offense’s three big touchdown passes pumped up the team and the stadium that something special was happening.

Not this time, they said.

&uot;This was a big game for me,&uot; senior linebacker Omega Logan said. &uot;We went through 0-11, 6-5 and 6-5, and we’re back at 6-5 and ready to go over the hump. Coach Thomas is an emotional man. If there’s anything I’ve learned from Coach Thomas, it’s that’s if there’s anything you do, you have to put your heart into it. You have to love what you do.&uot;

It put the Braves over a huge hump, although they’re not out of the woods yet. They still need a win over Jackson State Saturday and hope for Alabama State to lose to Texas Southern to make reservations for Birmingham and the SWAC Championship.

But as long as they remember where they once were three years ago, that may be all the motivation necessary.

&uot;It’s been a long, arduous process for us,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;We started from scratch building this football program. We wanted to build the program with integrity, honesty and work ethic, and we believe in doing things right. Now we hope we can get some divine intervention from God to allow us to go to the SWAC championship.&uot;

Adam Daigle

is sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. You can reach him at (601) 445-3632 or by e-mail at

adam.daigle@natchezdemocrat.

com.