CLAWED DEEP: Jaguars shine in Mumford

Last Saturday, the Southern University football team put on a show for the Homecoming crowd on October 22nd with back-to-back touchdowns and multiple defensive stops. The Jags hosted the Lions of the University of Arkansas Pine-Bluff in hopes of earning their fourth SWAC win.
Fortunately, the team did just that with junior quarterback, Austin Howard, leading way by connecting with eight different receivers while throwing for 292 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 49-17 win. It seemed as though the Jags moved the ball effortlessly down the field during the first quarter. Senior running back Lenard Tillery and running back John West scored a combined three touchdowns in the rushing attack. However, Austin felt as though the offense was cable of more in that quarter.
“We had five possessions in the first quarter and we should have scored on all of them. I’m not impressed with that but it is what is,” said Howard.
In addition to his touchdowns, SU’s all-time leading rusher, Tillery, averaged a little over 7 yards per carry for the night as he rushed for 135. When asked about the early first quarter surge with the running game, Tillery credited the offensive line.
“The offensive line wanted to have a big game coming into this and I believe that UAPB was ranked last in rushing defense so we knew we could take advantage of that,” said Tillery.
On the defensive side of the ball, senior defensive back Rhaheim Ledbetter led the team in total tackles as they held UAPB’s sophomore quarterback Brandon Duncan in check. Duncan, known for his explosiveness on offense in SWAC, was held under 200 yards passing (181), 20 yards rushing and sacked three times; one each by junior defensive end Aaron Tiller, sophomore defensive lineman Simeon Houston and freshman defensive lineman Ceajae Byrant. Tiller commented on how it felt to earn a sack in the game and the team’s performance in containing Duncan.
“It felt pretty good to get back there. It felt good for our d-line had some success getting back there,” said Tiller, then ended, “We focused on keeping him in a cage and forcing him to make decisions without taking away his scrambling ability. He really got out on us a few times but I think we contained him pretty well. He’s a good quarterback and you can’t take away someone’s talent. I hope he has a lot of success but I feel like we did a good job on executing the game plan and limiting him.”
However, the big story in Saturday’s game was of the unstoppable five foot five, senior wide receiver Willie Quinn of Miami, Florida. Other than his 6 receptions for 92 yards, Quinn received something much higher this game. On his second reception that night, Quinn now holds the honor of being SU’s all-time reception leader. He’s also one kickoff return and two combine returns of kickoff and punt to hold the FCS record in each. Adding on, Quinn is four returns away from holding the FBS record and will soon break the receiving yards record at SU.
When asked about his accomplishment that night, Quinn responded, “It means a lot you know, I have been dreaming about this since I was kid to break records and now, I’m at a college level doing it. It’s just a blessing,” said Quinn.
Southern is ranked number one in scoring offense (40.3 avg.), pass efficiency (160.1) and pass defense (194.3 avg.). The Jags have success in producing the fewest number of punts (22) along with the most scores when in the red zone (25). In addition to Homecoming night, the offensive line only gave up 1 sack. Head Football Coach Dawson Odums commented on his team’s overall performance against UAPB.
“They bounce back. In the time off, you can see that we were back in routine and I think our offense and defense were playing like we expected them to play. We didn’t finish off the first half to my liking but overall, our guys were mentally locked in,” said Odums. He ended by saying, “Our biggest thing is mindset. We believe that when we’re doing the things we’re suppose to do, we can be successful.”
The Jags will face the two time defending SWAC champions of Alcorn State in Jack Spinks Stadium on Saturday, October 29, in Lorman, Mississippi at 2 PM.