HOMECOMING Hamartia APANDEMONIUM:Southern takes their first conference loss

Homecoming weekend was a success for the Jaguars up until the 4:07 P.M kickoff. The Jaguars faced neighboring conference foe Prairie View A&M University. Prior to this game, the Jags were undefeated in conference play and seemed like a potential contender for the SWAC championship.
The Jaguars made a promise amongst themselves to dedicate the rest of the season to beloved brother and teammate Devon Gales. They started the game with good efforts. Despite a good opening drive, the Jags had to settle for three, after the drive faltered at the PV six-yard line. After two runs led to zero yards and an incompletion on third down, the drive resulted in three points. Nonetheless, big plays would follow. After PVAMU scored a touchdown on its first drive, SU’s Willie Quinn returned a kickoff one hundred yards to put the Jags back on top early in the first quarter 10-3.
Baton Rouge native and Glen Oaks High School graduate Johnta’ Herbert had the opportunity to play against his home school. Herbert, a fifth year senior was extended the opportunity to walk on at SU after graduating; but he took a scholarship to attend Prairie View A&M University.
“Southern asked me to walk on, so of course I have a chip on my shoulder,” said Herbert.
“I didn’t get a scholarship here and I stayed right down the street. Every time I play Southern, I want to have a big game.”
Herbert’s wish came true as he amassed three hundred ninety eight yards of total offense. Herbert rushed for one hundred fourteen yards on seventeen carries, caught ten passes for one hundred seventy yards, and had another one hundred fourteen yards on kickoff returns. Herbert and the end zone became good friends, as he found it four times; two rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns. Herbert would kick off the scoring for PV with his first touchdown midway through the first quarter. That was the first time the Jags trailed in conference play. Throughout the game, SU would make a lot of firsts. SU played a mistake free first half and led going into the locker room 23-20. The second half proved to be much different.
SU coughed the ball up six times, and it found the hands of a Panther four times. The third quarter is what turned the game in PV’s favor. Midway through the third quarter, PV was looking to add to its four point lead. The drive would stall and lead to a field goal attempt, an attempt that would be blocked. In the following moments, Jaguars safety Dionte McDuffy tried to recover the block and lost control of the ball. Prairie View gained possession of the ball and that led to a Herbert touchdown from fifteen yards out. That would widen the gap in the Panthers favor 40-30.
“That was big,” Southern head coach Dawson Odums said, “because we had fought so hard to stop them.”
One thing they couldn’t do is stop PVAMU, but they did seem to stop themselves. Earlier in the third quarter McDuffy would force a fumble and it was recovered by SU deep in Jaguar territory. The drive would nearly end in a punt, instead it ended in a turnover. Punter Greg Pittman botched the snap, which led to points for the Panthers. Three out of four of SU’s fumbles would all lead to scores by Herbert, who seemed to be the Jags’ kryptonite. “We shot ourselves in the foot,” said receiver Randall Menard. “We went in with too big of a head. We needed a loss to get our mind right.” Four fumbles and a horrible third down defense is a recipe for spoiling any homecoming. Now the Jaguars are faced with a headache. With yesterdays lost, they don’t control their destiny in the SWAC West. PVAMU will have to lose another game and SU would have to win out and defeat archrival Grambling State (5-0) if they want to end up back in Houston for the third year in a row.