OH SO BITTER SWEET! AT PANDEMONIUM: Jaguars catch Hornets off guard for their third SWAC win

With two weeks to mend wounds and pray for the injured Devon Gales, Southern University football steamrolled Alabama State on Saturday night in ASU Stadium.
This retribution was gained with eight receivers gaining touches.
For five straight seasons it became a trend for Southern and ASU to perform with seven or fewer points in their matchups.
The Jaguars suddenly put an end to that trend by gathering an early lead against the Hornets.
However, those stingers would not injure the Jaguars in an early play.
Southern had the 17-point lead before the half, then had to bear through late ASU touchdowns, before capturing the 45-34 win.
The early lead did not set the tone for the turbulent game, though.
Sophomore quarterback, Austin Howard assimilated the game early when he bolted the ball to redshirt junior tight-end, Dillion Beard, for a 7 yard touchdown and gained an easy two yard rush for another touchdown all within the first quarter.
Before the half, senior kicker Greg Pittman sent the long 33 yard kick into field goal range for the extra points.
“Is 17 points a big lead?” asked head coach Dawson Odums. “That’s only three scores. When you’re playing a team in this conference, you have to put them away early. I thought in the first half, we missed a lot of opportunities. We’re better than 17 points.”
Southern outplayed ASU accosting 424 offensive yards compared to ASU’s 414 yards offensive yardage.
Howard led with another career high performance since Jackson State with 33 for 45 completions for 355 yards and six touchdown passes and two touchdowns of his own without relinquishing an interception.
“All that was going through my head was sticking to a game plan,” said Howard, “because I knew it was a great game plan that the coaches put together this week.”
Senior wide receiver, Willie Quinn, also performed for his career high record with 12 catches for 141 yards. Besides Quinn being targeted, eight other receivers captured the ball.
This includes Beard for four catches, 47 yards, and two touchdowns as well as Montrell Jones for with five catches 67 yards, and a single touchdown.
“Everybody got fed and everyone was happy,” said Beard.
ASU soon came back to existence after halftime after Howard’s eight yard run into the end zone when Jamir Hannah threw a 14 yard touchdown pass to Ellis Richardson.
A two-point conversion increased the edge 24-8
On the next drive, Howard sent the pass towards Jones for 6 yards to increase the lead 31-8.
“In the second half, I believed we played better offensive,” said Odums.
At the buzzer point of the third quarter, Stan Robinson rushed 3 yards into the red zone for a touchdown but missing the extra point closed the gap 31-14.
Junior wide receiver, Randall Menard, recovered a fumble in the end zone after a pass completion and Howard threw another 14 yard touchdown to Beard keeping ASU at a steady halt for the final score of the night for Southern of 45.
A 13 yard pass to Hannah, a 1 yard pass from Daniel Duhart to Brandon Barnes, and another touchdown pass to Henderson closed the gap from 14 points to 34 in the fourth quarter itself.
Back-up quarterback, Duhart performance exuded accolades, throwing for three touchdowns in the final seven minutes.
“I believe we played enough to win, but we didn’t play enough to win these type of football games,” said Odums.
Southern increases to become undefeated in the Southwestern Athletic Conference play and Alabama State falls 2-3.
Southern moves on to play in their Homecoming game against Prairie View in which PVAMU (3-1) increased their Western Division conference win after rolling over Mississippi Valley State 45-6 this past Saturday as well.