This weekend the Southern University Jaguars faced off against the Alcorn Braves in Lorman, Mississippi.
This was Southern’s first game of their inter conference play and the Jags were hoping that starting Quarterback (QB) Austin Howard would be playing at a level similar to the beginning of the season before suffering a knee injury that took him out of play for two weeks.
When asked about his awaited return to college football, Howard responded, “It feels great to be back out there with my boys. I can’t explain it. It’s what I’ve been doing since I was small. I feel good. I feel great.”
This was Southern’s chance to shake off the last few weeks after a couple of hard losses against The University of San Antonio (UTSA) and The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), where both of those teams scored a combined total of 96 points and they only scored only one offensive touchdown.
The stands were packed with both blue and gold and purple and gold. This was also Alcorn’s 25th anniversary of their stadium opening up in 1992. The Stadium had 23,738 fans waiting to watch these Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) rivals battle for supremacy.
The first drive for Southern started off with 12 plays and a gain of 54 yards.
This resulted in Southern Kicker Curtlan Johnson kicking a field goal from the 35-yard line. Alcorn then responded with a field goal of their own from the 39-yard line. That was the only scoring in the first quarter. Southern’s defensive cornerback, Danny Johnson, made a spectacular one handed interception 10 minutes into the game, which was Alcorn’s first turnover of the game.
At the beginning of the second quarter the Jags broke off for a 23 yard rushing touchdown courtesy of running back Devon Benn. This gave the Jags a small lead of seven after the extra point attempt. Two minutes later, Southern fired back with another rushing touchdown by Benn. After Southern’s short series of scoring, Alcorn’s QB, De’Lance Turner, made a 17-yard pass to receive Lenorris Footman, which allowed Alcorn to start abusing the run game. After the passing touchdown from Alcorn, Southern fired back with a passing touchdown of their own, but this time for 48 yards from Dennis Craig. Alcorn later used the running game to score their second touchdown for 28 yards from ,running back, P.J Simmons. The last score of the first half was from Alcorn Kicker Corey McCullough but it still wasn’t enough, Southern held the lead 24 to Alcorn’s 20 at halftime.
After the break, Southern, came out the locker room overly confident with their small lead over Alcorn State. Alcorn made two back to back rushing touchdowns, the first for 52 yards from the quarterback De’Lance Turner and another touchdown for 11 yards from runningback P.J Simmons. Alcorn, after scoring the two back-to-back rushing touchdowns fired a 14-yard bomb to Marquis Warford. Southern had no offensive pressure in the 3rd quarter, but the defense scooped up a 19-yard fumble recovery for a quick 19-yard touchdown from Aaron Tiller. Unfortunately, Wide Receiver, Randell Menard’s season came to an end with a broken leg.
When Coach Odums was asked about this injury, he said, “It’s an unfortunate injury for him, but that comes with the game. We’re going to miss him. He’s one of those seniors that’s been a mainstay in the program for a while. We wish him a speedy recovery.”
Southern’s offense could not be found in the fourth quarter. But the Braves scored their last scored touchdown of the night from the 49-yard line courtesy of QB De’Lance Turner.
Even though Southern lost this game 48-31, it game was an improvement from their last two “L’s”. QB Austin Howard, coming back from his injuries, completed 24-45 pass completion rate for 274 yards. Runningback, Devon Benn, rushed for 134 and added a touchdown to his stat sheet. As a whole, Southern’s offense had 22 first downs over Alcorn’s 21 first downs and had 438 total yards. Southern’s defense on the other hand combined for seven third down stops and caused 3 turnovers.
Southern will face off against Fort Valley State in A.W Mumford Stadium. Let’s hope the Jags can break this losing streak.
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Braves Outlast Jaguars in SWAC Opener: Southern takes first conference loss of the season, Howard back at the Helm
September 28, 2017
Braves Outlast Jaguars in SWAC Opener: Southern takes first conference loss of the season, Howard back at the Helm
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