Schooled: Skelton, SU, dismantle UAPB

As Jaguar Nation entered A.W. Mumford Stadium for the last time this season last Saturday on a cool autumn afternoon dedicated to seniors, Southern would not disappoint.
On the Golden Lions’ first play of the game, senior cornerback, Tim Thompson, would jump in front of a pass for an interception. Sophomore quarterback, Ladarius Skelton, would rely on the legs of his running backs, as junior Jamarqueza Mims capped off the opening possession with a 4 yard touchdown.
On the ensuing kickoff, junior linebacker, Benjamin Harris, forced a fumble that Sophomore Kicker, Cesar Barajas, would recover, putting Southern in excellent field position. Skelton would not waste any time, connecting with senior wideout, Randall Menard, in the back of the end zone for the Jags’ second touchdown of the night.
After the Jaguars’ defense committed a demoralizing roughing the passer penalty, UAPB was the first offense to score against Southern in over two months. After the the Golden Lions could not capitalize on a swinging gate two-point-conversion, the score was 14-6.
The Skelton-to-Menard connection would seem to be unstoppable as the QB would find his big receiver wide open in the Golden Lion secondary for their second touchdown of the night. The Jaguar air raid would continue to drag UAPB’s defense, as Skelton threw a 45 yard bomb to redshirt sophomore receiver Hunter Register for a touchdown.
After being tripped up on the one-yard line, junior tight end Jeremias Houston’s 74 yard reception would set up redshirt sophomore tailback Devon Benn’s first touchdown of the night. After a horse collar personal foul on a excellent punt return by senior cornerback Demario Houston, Trey Smith would join in on the party of passes as Skelton delivered another deep ball to the graduate receiver. After an electric first half from the Big Blue Machine on offense and the suffocating ‘Dog Day’ defense, the Jags’ led at halftime 42-9.
Sophomore quarterback John Lampley started in the third quarter after Ladarius Skelton’s phenomenal performance on in the the first half. Southern’s stable of running backs began to run against Pine Bluff’s defense, but after a 11 yard scamper by Benn, Lampley connected with sophomore wide receiver Jamar Washington on a 20 yard strike.
Against Southern’s second team defense, Pine Bluff’s offense clawed into the Jags’ lead making the score 49-17. Christopher Chaney’s 43 yard rush continued Southern’s onslaught as they increased their lead to 56-17 heading in to the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Southern’s backups on defense allowed only one touchdown that made the final score 56-24. Redshirt junior linebacker, Calvin Lunkins, expressed how significant this game was to his senior teammates. “ I think it means a lot, especially after losing to Alcorn at homecoming. We never want to lose on our home turf.” Lunkins finished the game with 6 total tackles, 2 tackles for loss.
Sixth year senior, Randall Menard, may have possibly played his last game inside of Mumford Stadium. As he looked up at the band playing ‘O Southern,’ Menard expounded on some of the emotions he felt at that moment, “It felt great playing football again, from my last injury I had lost hope but I remained prayerful and God blessed me with another year.”
With Menard having tenure and experience being the only player from the 2013 season, when asked where this year’s team ranks compared to years past, he went on to say, “We have a team that’s good at all phases of the game, but the difference is that we have players that will do as they are asked and allow coaches to do their job.”
In Coach Dawson Odums’ opening statement, he praised Skelton’s record setting night, he went on to say, “We’ve always had a good signal caller whether it was Dray Joseph or Austin Howard, now it’s Ladarius Skelton,”the sophomore signal caller, finished the night 12 for 15 with 283 passing yards, in the first half alone.
But when asked about senior Tim Thompson’s first career interception on senior night, Odums’ emotions were evident. “I’m really happy for him, Tim’s been up and down but if you stay the process it pays off. Tim has been through the flood and it’s just great to see him grow.”
He continued to say, “My purpose here is not winning, that’s too easy… my purpose is to create a culture that embraces the program that we have and provide men an opportunity to be successful in society. [To] be a father to the ones who don’t have one, that’s my soul purpose of being here and when you understand that I don’t have to worry about being successful because I give all the glory to Him.”
Southern has a bye week before heading to New Orleans to play Grambling State in the Bayou Classic.