Southern wins 24-17 catfight vs. TSU

The Southern University Jaguars’ football team (10-1, 5-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) had to win against Texas Southern (3-3, 5-5 SWAC) in order to keep their SWAC title hopes alive and the Tigers made them earn it.
Jags’ senior defensive lineman Lenny Williams stepped in as kick returner with 1:09 in regulation and returned the ball 82 yards for a touchdown to propel Southern to a 24-17 win over the Tigers.
” I was just happy to get open to return it,” said Williams. “The game turned out in our favor when it needed to and I’m happy.”
The TSU running game constantly challenged the Jaguars’ defense. In the first half alone, Southern had rushed only 32 yards in contrast to the 139 yards ran by the Tigers.
They came at us hard,” said Jags’ senior defensive back Eddie Woods. “We missed too many tackles and it took time for us to get it together.”
Texas Southern committed two fumbles in the first half, but Southern failed to hold on the ball long enough to capitalize. Three interceptions by Jags’ senior quarterback Quincy Richard prevented Southern from scoring no more than 10 points in the first half.
His third interception, a pass intended for senior wide receiver Drayton Bridges, was returned for a 23 yards by Tigers’ safety Billy Starling for the Tigers’ first touchdown of the game.
Richard responded with a 50-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Chris Davis.
However, miscues and dropped passes provided TSU with an opportunity to score again with 57 seconds left in the first half.
A fumble recovery by senior linebacker Eddie Green provided a temporary spark for the Jags in the third quarter, but the Tigers refused to let up on Richard and continued to pressure him into throwing the ball away and failing to execute.
The Tigers were still up by a touchdown in the fourth quarter when a sense of urgency passed through the Jags’ sideline.
Just over 12 minutes was on the clock when Richard managed to evade the Tigers’ defense long enough to throw a 17-yard pass to junior wide receiver Alfred Ard, tying the game17-17.
“I was lucky to be open,” said Ard. “They had been pressuring us all night. It was hard, but Quincy found me and I was able to score.”
On the second play of the Tigers’ next offensive drive, Woods recovered a fumble by quarterback Gerred Lunnon.
However, Richard’s efforts on the next drive proved fruitless when he threw his season-high fourth interception of the game.
“We didn’t play well at first,” said Richardson. “He tried to force some passes and there were some miscues, but I am still proud of the way the team played. They played hard.”
Richard finished the game completing 12 of 27 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
The Jags committed nine penalties for 78 yards against TSU. A crucial holding penalty with less than five minutes left on the clock pushed Southern back to the TSU 39-yard line, where Jags’ sophomore wide receiver James Vernon turned over the ball on another fumble.
A sack on Lunnon by Jags’ junior defensive lineman Kevin Mack with less than two minutes left in the game set up the last-minute score by Williams for the win.
“This was a hard game, just like the rest of the games this season,” said Williams. “But for me to end the game that was just the result me being focused. I was focused on leaving here with a win and now I am focusing on Grambling. I want Southern to go to Birmingham.”