PV powers past Southern

 
SHREVEPORT – Southern’s loss to Prairie View was the storybook ending nobody wanted.
In shockingly similar fashion to their loss against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the Jaguars were blown out of contention for the conference title. This time, they were outscored 21-0 in the fourth quarter before falling to the Panthers 49-29.
The Panthers’ come-from-behind win moved the Jaguars into third place of the West Division standings. The Panthers were led by quarterback De’Auntre Smiley, the reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Week the week before the Southern matchup.
Now, instead of contending in the West for a title, the Jaguars will hope they can hang on for a third place finish.
“Overall I thought we were competitive,” SU interim coach Dawson Odums said after the game. “Like I told the guys after the game, all we got to do is come back to work, regroup and somehow try to come out and play better the next time.”
PVAMU (2-5,2-3) went ahead 35-29 after a 36-yard touchdown catch by wide-out Gabe Dunlap and then 42-29 after a five yard run by running back Nelson Spencer. Quarterback De’Auntre Smiley added a 62-yard touchdown run to lead the Panthers to their third straight victory.
While the Panthers’ offense compiled 645 yards of offense, its defense forced one turnover and seven punts.
“We wasn’t communicating well on defense,” Prairie View A&M head coach Heishma Northern told reporters after the game, after defeating SU for the fifth straight time, “I think once we went up and we were able to get them in a one dimensional ball game, our defensive line stepped up their pass rush. We had some backup DB’s that had to play that made some knockdowns. Those were big plays that those guys made for each other.”
After struggling to get on the board early in games this season, SU’s offense took a 23-21 lead with 8:53 remaining in the third quarter. On the Jaguars go-ahead drive, quarterback Dray Joseph threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to receiver Lee Doss after tossing a 15-yard passing score to Charles Hawkins on the previous possession.
On the Jaguars next possession, Joseph connected with receiver Mike Berry for a 34-yard scoring toss, which gave SU a 29-28 lead.
“I think if we just come play like we did today and the defense makes the necessary stops then the game should be very easy,” Hawkins said.
Odums said the team would go back to the drawing board Monday and try to figure out a way to stop people, including East Division leader Alabama A&M, whose next on the Jaguars schedule.
“We better figure it out or this trend will continue,” Odums said.