“Holding on and Holding out:” Jaguars find resilience

Last weekend, Southern University (SU) traveled north of the state border as the Jaguars went to battle against the Golden Lions of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (UAPB) Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Jaguars (4-3, 2-1 SWAC) headed into Saturday’s matchup riding high on a three game winning streak.
UAPB, on the other hand, entered this SWAC west division contest losing five of their last six games.
On the Golden Lions’ opening drive, the high octane offense seemed to be too explosive for the Jags’ defense, as UAPB scored a touchdown through the air for the first points of the game with 12:01 remaining early in the first.
The Jags answered back with a touchdown of their own, courtesy of standout senior defensive, back Danny Johnson.
Johnson continues to showcase his versatility this season, as he was able to connect with redshirt junior tight end, Dennis Craig, for a 12 yard touchdown pass with 9:20 remaining.
For those counting, this is Johnson’s third touchdown on offense, along with his first touchdown via passing this season.
On UAPB’s next possession, the Golden Lions’ offense once again scored on the SU defense through a rushing touchdown from junior running back, Keshawn Williams, improving their lead to 14-7 with the clock at 6:04.
Southern answered back quickly as senior quarterback, Austin Howard, delivered a 63 yard deep ball to freshman wide receiver, Jamar Washington, for a touchdown, which tied the game at 14 with 5:17 to go.
Southern’s defensive line started to overpower the Golden Lions’ offense, forcing them to punt on their third possession of the game. With nothing but seconds left in a high scoring first quarter, redshirt senior tight end, Dillon Beard, received a 7 yard pass from Howard to give the Jags a 21-14 edge heading into the second quarter.
The Golden Lions got back to marching down the field, but a fumble recovered by senior linebacker, Kentavius Preston, effectively ended another scoreless UAPB possession at SU’s 29 yard line.
A monstrous sack by freshman corner back, Jackoby Pappillion, forced a fumble on third down but was recovered by freshman offensive lineman, Jayden Glover, of UAPB.
The Jags’ aerial attack improved the score 28-14 with 5:21 left in the second quarter on a 15 yard touchdown pass from Austin Howard to Dontrell Brown. Preston jumped in front of a Leearl Patterson pass for a gain of 19, but a 15 yard unnecessary roughness personal foul on UAPB put the Jags’ inside of UAPB redzone.
Three plays later, Howard completed a 8 yard pass to Jamar Washington for his third touchdown of the day. The Jags’ led 34-14 with 4:27 left to play in the second quarter.
UAPB began the second half with K. Williams rushing for a 28 yard touchdown with 13:27 remaining in the third quarter, making the score 34-21, still in Southern’s favor. Southern’s offense could not answer back with a score of their own. After a lackluster punt gave UAPB excellent field position, the Jags’ defense held the Golden Lions to a field goal with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter. At that point, Southern lead 24-34.
Howard led the Jags’ offense on an emphatic scoring drive to begin the fourth quarter, covering 50 yards in 9 plays. The result was a 7 yard pass to Beard, his second touchdown catch of the game.
Southern had a 16 point lead with 13:26 left on the clock.
UAPB would strike back with B.Duncan connecting with J.Brown on a 10 yard pass for a touchdown. The Golden Lions would capitalize on their 2-point conversion, making the score 40-32 with 11:22 remaining in the 4th quarter.
Another touchdown from SU sophomore running back, Devon Benn, raised the score 47-32 with 9:24 left on the clock, sealing another victory for the Jaguars. The Golden Lions scored the last touchdown of the night with a Brandon Duncan 10 yard pass to J. Brown with 00:13 remaining in the game to make the score close. After an offensive shootout, Southern came out victorious with the final score of 47-40.
Howard’s 5-touchdown performance set the tone for Southern’s offense to have one of their best performances of the season.
During Head Coach Dawson Odums’ opening statement of his press conference, he states that, “The first two drives [UAPB] went down the field and we adjusted. We were playing pretty good at halftime, leading 34-14, and then you come out the second half and offensively you put up 47 points and you give yourself a chance to win a football game.”
“But defensively,” he added,” it was just too many big plays in space. We just have a hard time getting guys on the ground.” The Golden Lions finished with over 400 yards of total offense, with over half of those yards coming through the air.
But, fortunately we made enough plays to win a football game, because this game could’ve easily went the other way, they played lights out. On the road you have to play with a lot of passion and enthusiasm and we didn’t do that in the second half. I thought the first half we played ok, then the second half we didn’t play the style of football that were accustomed to playing.”
Next week, the Jags’ return to A.W. Mumford Stadium in another SWAC matchup to face the Prairie View Panthers. The game is set to kick off at 4PM.