HOUSTON -With 1:35 left in the second quarter and on fourth down and six, Southern University Jaguar kicker Colby Miller completed his first touchdown pass to Jaguars defensive back Kevin Moffett off of a faked punt attempt.
That pass help push the Jags (3-5 overall, 3-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) into an emotionally charged win over the Prairie View A&M University Panthers (0-4 overall, 1-7 SWAC) 46-24.
“Coach had called one play,” said Miller. “But after the snap, I saw another one, so I went with it-and my instincts were right.”
It seemed that on Saturday, everything seemed to go right for Miller and the Jags from start to finish. After watching Panthers’ quarterback Deshun Baker rush eight yards for the first touchdown of the game, the Jags tied the Panthers with running back Marques Newman rushing a one-yard touchdown and a PAT by Miller.
After Newman’s score and a 23-yard touchdown pass from Jaguars quarterback Anthony Fisher to receiver Al’Trevion Joubert, the Jaguars never looked back.
Although Southern failed to dominate the clock with only 26 minutes of the game, they did dominate the scoreboard and the defense dominated Prairie View’s lackluster offensive play.
Head coach Pete Richardson praised the return of senior linebacker Chris Cooper. After succumbing to an early season ankle injury, Cooper roughed up the Panthers’ offense by getting nine tackles and one force fumble.
“Cooper is an exciting player to watch,” said Richardson. “He hadn’t really played a great deal this season (due to injury), but he has stepped up and done well.”
Also stepping up was senior defensive back Herman Hartman, Jr. Hartman also got nine tackles and one of Southern’s nine sacks in the game.
At the end of the second quarter, Southern had the Panthers by the tail with a 24-point lead as they went into their respective locker rooms at halftime leading 34-10.
The pummeling of the Panthers continued in the third and fourth quarter as the Southern offense produced 12 more points to defeat the Panthers 46-24.
The Jaguar Nation watched Richardson and his Jags steer away from normalcy as other players stepped up in dramatic fashion. Junior running back Leon Miller and freshman wide receiver James Vernon both produced as rushers in Saturday’s game contributing a combined average of 22.8 yards per carry.
Sophomore receiver Alfred Ard along with senior receivers Joubert and Michael Hayes did their job catching for 104 combined yards. Stepping up were junior tight end Roderick Jones, senior fullback Larry Dents, and sophomore tight end Dedrick Shelmire. The three combined for 71 yards, but the player with the longest reception of the game was Moffett with his 60-yard touchdown reception from Miller.
The Jags are sitting on cloud nine with the much-needed win and according to Richardson, the morale is sky high, especially as they anticipate going against Alcorn State next week.
“The spirit of our football team is still up,” said Richardson. “The confidence is starting to develop with our football team…But we have to be prepared are we still have to execute.”
