Jags defeat Golden Bears in home opener

On Saturday afternoon the Jaguars faced off with Miles college. This game would be marked as the second annual Pete Richardson Classic named after the legendary coach. Southern looked to right their wrongs after a lopsided loss at the hands of Troy University. In their previous outing, they only managed to put up 3 points so they looked to recoup in this weekend’s contest.
The game started out with a bang as Southern quickly took the lead with a 55 yard drive by redshirt junior Glendon McDaniel that was capped with a five yard run from redshirt senior Devon Benn. Both teams traded scores throughout the first half. By the end of the first half Southern trailed Miles by four points 17-13. The Jags seemed to reignite their offense while their defense seemed to be in a daze.
The story of the second half was a completely different one for Southern however. The Jags came out of the lockerroom looking to make a statement as they quickly made another 62 yard drive followed by a 6 yard touchdown run from Benn. The Jags opening drive set the tone for the rest of the game as they only gave up one touchdown the rest of the way. Coach Rollins spoke to their mantra coming out of halftime. “We went back to the basics”. Southern also managed to score three straight unanswered touchdowns to win the game 41-24.
This game had its ups and downs but it proved to be a refreshing change of pace from the previous weeks effort. Southern was able to execute offensively and defensively down the stretch and maintain dominance throughout the second half. The run game truly stood out as the Jaguars were able to combine for a 323 yard performance.
Out of the 323 rush yards gained by Southern, the bulk of those yards came from redshirt sophomore Craig Nelson who had 134 yards carrying and a touchdown. Benn’s two touchdown’s also provided a spark for the Jags. The run game for Southern became the glue as the game shifted back and forth.
This was a game of firsts for the Jags as Coach Jason Rollins captured his first career win. Also, this was Southern’s first win of the season. Coach Rollins spoke to the great performance by his second string quarterback McDaniel “He did a great job for us”. McDaniel went 10-13 on his passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. While he also rushed for 60 yards along with two touchdowns. McDaniel alluded to practice preparation as the key to his success “the game is just like practice with just more people watching”.
Now that Southern has a win under their belt they will look for a repeat performance next week against McNeese State University. The cowboys will be looking to bounce back after a 34-7 loss to LSU. The last time these two teams met up was in August of 2019 in which the Jags suffered a six point loss to their opponents.