Back to Business

Returning from a disappointing loss against Texas Southern in the Arlington Showdown the week before, the Jags came back to Mumford Stadium with one goal—to win. Their game against UAPB last night exceeded most expectations by winning in a blowout, but it may have been the start of something special.
Starting strong in the first quarter, quarterback Besean McCray came with an unstoppable game-changer mentality while playing. In the first few minutes of the game, all his passes were complete, which showed how the efforts of the offense got stronger, leading him to a deep 54-yard throw caught by wide receiver Gregory Perkins. This throw will lead to Besean completing a pass to Kendric Rhymes to score the first points in the game with a touchdown. Jaguars forced a punt against UAPB for 62 yards that were caught by Chandler Whitfield and returned 30 yards. Both the Jag’s defense and offense were steady in the remainder of the first quarter, not letting UAPB put up any touchdowns, even with a pass intercepted by the Lions, forcing them to go for a successful field goal.
With the momentum that was shown in the first quarter, it came over to the second. Off rip, literally in the first play, Besean successfully threw a completed pass for 35 yards to Cornelius Dyson for their second touchdown of the game. At this point, the fans and spectators knew the Jags weren’t going out without a fight. The energy on the field and stands were unmatched. When defense touched the field, they were on their jobs the whole time. UAPB wasn’t getting any of their passes complete leading to senior defensive back Corione Harris intercepting the QB and returning it 62 yards to extend the Jaguar’s lead. Not even five minutes later, the Jaguar’s Kriston Davis intercepted yet another pass by UAPB giving the ball back to Southern. With the ball in Southern’s hands, freshman running back Kendric Rhymes was then able to run a total of 32 yards down the middle to gain the Jags another touchdown making it 28-3 in just the second quarter. They meant business and it was clear. By the end of the second quarter, Besean rushed 36 yards himself to put yet another touchdown on the board and Kendric Rhymes capped off the half with another rushing touchdown making it 42-3.
Coming into the second half with the same momentum, if not more, Jaguars got a first down in the first minute. UAPB was sacked for a loss of 4 yards by graduate defensive tackle Tahj Brown and immediately recovered by junior linebacker Jalen Campbell. Besean was then able to pass 14 yards to sophomore tight end Gregory Perkins for another touchdown. With UAPB still attempting to pass to get another touchdown, the Jaguars just were not allowing them. Transfer senior defensive tackle Jason Dumas played his first game in Mumford Stadium and set the tone for defense ending with 5 tackles in his debut as a Jag. With the defense on a roll, the UAPB offense was essentially not there. With Southern regaining the ball once again, McCray completed yet another touchdown to Cassius Allen for a 10-yard touchdown, which brought the score to 56-3. At the end of the third quarter, redshirt sophomore defensive back Jordan Carter intercepted the ball and returned it 21 yards, giving the ball back to Southern to start the 4th.