After a beatdown against Nicholls State 51-7, the Southern Jaguars were looking to shake back with a win against the Texas Southern Tigers. Before the most recent matchup, Southern over the last 3 matchups were 1-2. However, the Jags did win a close game last year against the Tigers in overtime with a score of 23-17. Once again, in a situation that appeared to be déjà vu, the Jags gave the fans a moment they will never forget.
The Southern offense came out lackluster to start the first half. In the Jags’ first 7 drives, the Jags turned the football over 4 times. In total, the Jags had 100 yards of offense in the first half. Junior quarterback Noah Bodden did start for the Jags and had some struggles early on, going 1 for 7 for 7 yards, leading to him being benched temporarily for freshman quarterback Czavian Teasett. Teasett returned after his injury against Jackson State, but it wasn’t a great welcoming back, as he would throw an interception that Texas Southern would return for a touchdown. Teasett would not remain in the game for long. With the mistakes, Southern would go into halftime losing 14-0.
The resiliency of the Jags would be put to the test in the second half. The Southern Jaguars did score on their first three possessions in the second half. Senior kicker Josh Griffin would nail a 26-yard field goal and a 40-yard field goal on the Jags’ first two possessions of the 2nd half, reducing the lead to 14-6. Southern’s third drive of the half would be finished off by sophomore running back Kendric Rhymes on a 6-yard rushing touchdown. The lead was now 12-14.
However, chaos entered the scene as the game began to wind down. The Jags were on the ropes despite playing a physical game and only giving up 5 points in the second half. The score was 17-12 late in the 4th quarter, and Bodden was called for intentional grounding in the endzone, resulting in a safety, allowing the Tigers to lead 19-12 with 1:26 remaining. Last year, a similar situation happened on the bluff, but a miracle took place with a fumble returned by now-junior defensive end Ckelby Givens, allowing other events to transpire as the Jags would beat the Tigers in overtime last year. Well, a shank punt deep in scoring territory for Southern allowed the Jags to have an opportunity to tie the game late in Houston.
Bodden would hit on a 16-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver and transfer from Texas Southern Quay Davis to tie the game at 19. The Tigers would miss a field goal, setting up a game-winning 34-yard field goal from Griffin. The Jags would win 22-19, similar to last year’s thrilling finish.
Per WAFB Channel 9, Davis provided his thoughts on the game, “When I see just one person in front of me, my mindset is to dominate them; I ain’t finna let them stop me.” Griffin followed up with his thoughts, “Whenever the game is getting close, you always want to be prepared that we might get in that situation, so there was no nervousness; we all locked in, the snapper, the holder, everybody; we just knew what the situation was.”
Graves spoke highly of his team’s perseverance, “It’s not magic, it’s just those guys are resilient. They are; I talk about this team all the time. This team has the heart of a champion.”
The Jags are focusing on the Alcorn State Braves for homecoming on October 19th at 6 P.M. at A.W. Mumford Stadium.
