BATON ROUGE, La. — The Jackson State Tigers delivered a dominant performance on Saturday night, storming past the Southern Jaguars with a commanding 38-13 victory at A.W. Mumford Stadium. After falling behind early, Jackson State responded in emphatic fashion, scoring 31 unanswered points to completely shift the momentum of the game.
In the second quarter, LSU transfer Trey Holly scored on a 73 yard touchdown run, giving the Jaguars a 13-7 lead with 10:33 remaining in the second quarter. It gave Jaguars fans hope, similarly to last year’s SWAC Championship game. However, the collective prayers of the fans clad in blue and gold, would ultimately be dashed.
Notably, it would be the final time Southern would score in the contest.
Jackson State Surges Ahead
Quarterback JaCobian Morgan delivered one of his best performances of the season, completing 21-of-31 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns. The defining moment came just before halftime, when Morgan launched a 51-yard touchdown strike to Ja’Naylon Dupree with only five seconds left on the clock, giving Jackson State a lead they would never surrender.
On the ground, Ahmad Miller carried the ball 16 times for 107 yards, while Donerio Davenport added to the scoring with two rushing touchdowns. Their balanced attack kept Southern’s defense on its heels all night.
“It’s frustrating because right before the timeout, I told the team right at the time out, ‘got to protect the football,’” said Southern head coach Terrence Graves. “We were talking about that. And then we turn the ball over.”
It was the epitome of the game. Southern showed fight but their self-inflicted mistakes cost them the game.
Key Stats
Jackson State outgained the Jaguars 293-107 in the second half. Meanwhile, the Jackson State defense clamped Southern early and often. The Jaguars were 3-of-12 on third down. 27,487 fans witnessed Saturday night’s contest.
With the victory, Jackson State improves to 3-1 on the season and won their first game of their SWAC schedule. Meanwhile, the Jaguars fall to 1-4, and 4th in the SWAC Western Division.
What’s Next?
Southern will have their second bye week before they take on Bethune-Cookman on October 11th. Meanwhile, Jackson State will play Alabama A&M in the Gulf Coast Challenge in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday, Oct. 4.
