When it Rains, It Pours: Southern returns the favor during Texas Southern Homecoming

Even with rain, snow, sleet and hail, Southern University’s football team was ready to seize the day.
Heavy showers plagued BBVA Stadium in Houston, Texas during Texas Southern’s homecoming festivities, but both teams brought the intensity and Southern took the cake winning 40-21 upsetting TSU.
Southern sent TSU’s offense through trepidation with 2 of 12 third down attempts.
Don’t forget to mention the eight sacks in which linebacker, Daniel Brown captured three and a half of the six sacks that were achieved after halftime which made for the many pass rushes.
Even when their threat was a giant 6-foot-7 wide receiver, Derrick Griffin that had some slight marks in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Southern did not have a giant to match his luster.
The defense canceled his game when Griffin only suffered with one catch and seven yards.
Southern head coach Dawson Odums has seen the advancement of the defense.
“They’ve been close all year and today they finally had some coverage behind them,” said Odums.
Willie Quinn became the first scoring factor for SU when running for 96 yards during kickoff. He now ties Hampton University standout, Jerome Mathis, for FCS player with six kickoff touchdowns. Quinn now has one more before he can break the record. Brown and Quinn were named SWAC Players of the Week for their performances.
After Quinn’s fifteen seconds of fame, Brad Woodard of TSU sailed into the end zone with a two yard run into the end zone to tie the score because of a fumble by tight end, Nico Talbert.
The unexpected factor which was heavy rainfall impacted the game near the latter half of the first quarter.
Southern then started teeter, tottering with the score when running back, Lenard Tillery, ran for 3 yards into the end zone. This extended the score 14-7.
After the attempt to score, TSU punted back to Southern and with a mere 1:55 left, Tillery once again held the ball strong into the end zone for two yards to increase the lead 21-7.
TSU then returned the favor with a 54 yard pass from Averion Hurts to Larry Clark to have the score 21-14.
The weather began to interfere with the gameplay, as running back Malcolm Crockett released the ball for a fumble and the Jaguars were close to capitalizing a touchdown when TSU recovered the ball at the 4-yard line.
At the beginning of the second quarter, TSU held Southern to their toughest yet and buffered the lead when Malik Cross caught an unwatched pass by the Southern defense and left the score tied.
Despite 193 yards and a kickoff touchdown for Quinn, the score still remained tied at lucky 21 for the half.
Southern entered back into the half and Gregg Pittman kicked a field goal for 28 yards.
With the real slow downpour, shenanigans began when wide receiver, Mike Jones blocked the punt and captured the safety along with two of his teammates, increasing the lead to five points.
Howard set his sights on the bench after the half used their other offensive weapons in the lineup as, backup quarterback Deonte Shorts nailed the end zone for an explosive 13 yard run on a quarterback keep to extend the lead to 33-21.
The last score that Southern achieved and also halted the scoring attempts for TSU was by redshirt junior running back, John West for a one yard run.
Southern (4-3, 4-1) while extending their lead may have found their niche while traveling but next week they have to go back to A.W. Mumford Stadium on Halloween night and face a foe that escaped with a prize that they couldn’t capitalize on in the past.
The 2014 SWAC Championship held by the Alcorn Braves.