By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter
Southern coach Pete Richardson said he’s not talking up last season’s 26-23 overtime loss to Prairie View as incentive for his players before the teams meet at 6 p.m. Saturday in A.W. Mumford Stadium.
He’s either taking the high road or he’s choosing not to waste time stating the obvious.
“I’m not using that as a motivation,” Richardson said. “We have enough individuals who played in that game who understand what happened.
“Our thing is making sure we get focused, get ready to play. Our goal is to get to the championship; it’s not to kill anybody.”
That being said, SU’s first loss in the series since 1971 and the manner in which the game dissolved both stung hard.
“We’ve been looking for this game for 365 days,” said SU linebacker Johnathan Malveaux, who was carted off the field before overtime began and treated for heat exhaustion. “They really embarrassed us, but now we call this the payback.”
Southern blew a 14-point lead, at 20-6, and had the ball at the PV 15-yard line with 5:15 remaining before fumbling consecutive snaps, with the Panthers turning those into touchdowns to tie the game and bring on overtime.
“It was a game we should have won,” George said.
In the three preceding meetings alone, Southern had scored blowouts of 38-0, 42-12 and 62-7, continuing a series that’s been lopsided since the 1970s.
PV has improved under Henry Frazier III, and this season’s edition, at 2-0 like SU, may be the best yet. The school has restored scholarships after not having any in the 1990s, when PV set a record with 80 straight losses. Last season, though, even with five minutes left, the game didn’t seem to be the one that would provide a breakthrough against one of the SWAC’s traditional powers.
“It was horrible,” said sophomore running back Brian Threat, who had season bests of six carries and 26 yards that day. “I never want to re-live that again.”
The instant aftermath came with Prairie View players celebrating wildly and some taunting as Southern players stared on in disbelief.
“I have a memory of a guy taunting me, standing over my head, laughing at me,” senior strong safety Jarmaul George, a team co-captain this year, who was stretched out on the Tully Stadium artificial surface as a PV player danced atop him. “But now this is our year.”
Then, as Southern players got on the buses heading home, the cell calls started coming. And then they had to answer more questions from stunned classmates the next week.
Players this week have talked about how much last season’s loss hurt the older players.
“The main thing is, it’s payback week,” junior defensive tackle Joseph Selders said. “We were 2-0 going into Prairie View last year and we had a letdown late in the game. We’re going to try to pay them back this year.
“We’re going to show them Saturday who the real Jaguars are.”
He’s either taking the high road or he’s choosing not to waste time stating the obvious.
“I’m not using that as a motivation,” Richardson said. “We have enough individuals who played in that game who understand what happened.
“Our thing is making sure we get focused, get ready to play. Our goal is to get to the championship; it’s not to kill anybody.”
That being said, SU’s first loss in the series since 1971 and the manner in which the game dissolved both stung hard.
“We’ve been looking for this game for 365 days,” said SU linebacker Johnathan Malveaux, who was carted off the field before overtime began and treated for heat exhaustion. “They really embarrassed us, but now we call this the payback.”
Southern blew a 14-point lead, at 20-6, and had the ball at the PV 15-yard line with 5:15 remaining before fumbling consecutive snaps, with the Panthers turning those into touchdowns to tie the game and bring on overtime.
“It was a game we should have won,” George said.
In the three preceding meetings alone, Southern had scored blowouts of 38-0, 42-12 and 62-7, continuing a series that’s been lopsided since the 1970s.
PV has improved under Henry Frazier III, and this season’s edition, at 2-0 like SU, may be the best yet. The school has restored scholarships after not having any in the 1990s, when PV set a record with 80 straight losses. Last season, though, even with five minutes left, the game didn’t seem to be the one that would provide a breakthrough against one of the SWAC’s traditional powers.
“It was horrible,” said sophomore running back Brian Threat, who had season bests of six carries and 26 yards that day. “I never want to re-live that again.”
The instant aftermath came with Prairie View players celebrating wildly and some taunting as Southern players stared on in disbelief.
“I have a memory of a guy taunting me, standing over my head, laughing at me,” senior strong safety Jarmaul George, a team co-captain this year, who was stretched out on the Tully Stadium artificial surface as a PV player danced atop him. “But now this is our year.”
Then, as Southern players got on the buses heading home, the cell calls started coming. And then they had to answer more questions from stunned classmates the next week.
Players this week have talked about how much last season’s loss hurt the older players.
“The main thing is, it’s payback week,” junior defensive tackle Joseph Selders said. “We were 2-0 going into Prairie View last year and we had a letdown late in the game. We’re going to try to pay them back this year.
“We’re going to show them Saturday who the real Jaguars are.”
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