Southern Jaguars stick with their game

By CHARLES SALZER, Special to The Advocate

Tennessee State might have slipped into a false sense of security after building a 21-point second quarter lead. Southern might have waited until midway through the first half to start playing on either side of the ball, but the final score was ultimately all that mattered.

Southern’s 41-34 come-from-way-behind win over the visiting Tigers proved that the Jaguars have too much pride to let an early deficit take them out of their game.

With Bryant Lee throwing for 305 yards and four touchdowns, and Darren Coates rushing for 115 yards and two scores, Southern outscored Tennessee State 35-7 in the final 2&permil quarters to erase an inept start on both sides of the ball.

“It takes a lot of heart and that’s what we have,” Lee said. “The defense came through for us in big time situations, and the offense made plays when they got us the ball.”

It didn’t start out that way. Quarterback Antonio Heffner and the rest of his TSU teammates shredded Southern’s defense en route to a 27-6 lead with 6:36 left in the first half. Southern pulled itself up off the turf, and surged for two scores before the break.

“We just started picking each other up,” Coates said. “We told everyone we could do it, and once we got rolling we just kept it moving.”

Coates took a short pass in the right flat 31 yards for a touchdown to start the comeback. The score was the first of 26 straight points for Southern, which allowed more points in the first quarter (20) than it had in its previous two games combined (8).

Southern wasn’t done for the half, and Coates 54-yard run with less than four minutes to go set up his own 1-yard scoring run. Southern trailed 27-19 at the half, but had seized all the momentum behind Coates’ strong finish..

“Coming into the game coach told us not to wait for anybody else to make a big play,” Coates said. “He told us to take it on yourself to make a big play and that’s what I did.

“This means a lot to us and the fans. It shows that we can last the whole game and we’re going to fight to the end. We have a lot of pride inside us. We’re not quitters.”

Senior receiver Gerard Landry helped provide a spark in the second half after sitting out the first half because of a suspension. He made his presence felt quickly with a 21-yard reception, and later a 6-yard touchdown catch that brought Southern within 27-25.

“I just wanted an opportunity to make something happen and that’s what I did,” Landry said. “(At halftime) coach Richardson told us to settle down and execute because everything we did was working. He told us to stay within ourselves and fill our roles.”

Southern fought back to take its first lead late in the third quarter. Coates picked up 32 yards on five straight carries, the last a 1-yard score putting Southern up 32-27.

Tennessee State briefly retook the lead at 34-32, but by that time the Southern defense was revved up for the fourth quarter. The Tigers had five fourth-quarter possessions and were forced to punt twice while their other drives ended with turnovers.

“The defense held them and we just executed on the offensive side of the ball,” Lee said. “We played hard for 60 minutes and that’s what it takes.”

Landry was equally complimentary of the poise Lee showed after the Jaguars got down.

“I can’t say enough about Bryant,” Landry said. “When he was in trouble he made things happen. When he came to the sidelines a little frustrated, I just told him to relax and he settled down.”

It was advice that served Lee and Southern well.