Saturday, September 8, 2007

Final: Southern U. 23, MVSU 6

CHICAGO - Bryant Lee threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns to lead Southern to a 23-6 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday in the Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field.

Lee, a red shirt sophomore, connected with three different receivers as the Jaguars (2-0, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) built a 14-6 halftime lead.

Southern scored first early in the second quarter on a 54-yard toss from Lee to Gerard Landry. Later in the period, Lee found Kendrick Smith in the end zone with a 12-yard pass.

Mississippi Valley (1-1) got on the board on a 20-yard pass from quarterback Paul Roberts to Clarence Cotton with six seconds left in the half. The point-after by Jamie Whitworth was wide right.

"We really showed a lot of character coming back in the second half," said Jaguar head coach Pete Richardson, who admitted he feared the game's momentum had shifted to Mississippi Valley with their score late in the first half. "We were able to come back and shut them down."

Southern scored again midway in the third quarter on a 20 yard strike from Lee to Smith. The point-after kick by Josh Doran was blocked. Doran later connected on a 30-yard field goal.

Brian Threat led the rushing for Southern with 106 yards on 11 carries. Del Roberts was the leading receiver for the Jaguars, catching seven of Lee's passes for 74 yards.

"We really couldn't get anything going offensively when we needed to," said Delta Devils coach Willie Totten. "However, give them credit. They played a great game and were able to hold off our offense."

Southern's defense held Mississippi Valley to 162 yards and 11 first downs. Roberts accounted for 121 yards of the Delta Devils offense, completing 17 of 31 passes.

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