JSU pounds SU in second half

Photo: JSU defender Marcus Bernard (80) sacks Southern University quarterback Warren Matthews.

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter

Jackson State beat Southern on Saturday night.

Really beat the Jaguars.

Southern, which had dominated the second half all season, finally was bettered after halftime, with Jackson State overcoming a three-point halftime deficit by pounding away with a steady offense to claim a 32-26 Southwestern Athletic Conference victory at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

After a three-interception first half, Jackson State quarterback Jimmy Oliver stopped pressing, finishing with 308 yards passing, with Erik Haw powering his way for 135 of the Tigers’ 181 rushing yards. Wide receiver Christopher Johnson added career-high 160 yards and one second-quarter touchdown receiving.

Meanwhile, Southern, which opened the game without its senior center, one of its top wide receivers, its top linebacker and one of its top running backs, wore down from Jackson State’s relentless play.

As Jackson State held the ball for 22:30 of the second half, the Jaguars took a physical beating.

Going out were:

SU’s top wide receiver Gerard Landry, who had two touchdown catches, went out with a sprained left ankle with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

Quarterback Bryant Lee re-injured his right ankle — seriously injuring it for the first time — in the final minute of the third quarter.

Up-and-coming true freshman linebacker Corey Ray, who had reconstructive surgery on both shoulders over the winter, suffered a shoulder dislocation with 5:17 left in the third quarter.
Starting linebacker Allan Baugh injured his left knee in the fourth quarter.

Though Jackson State held SU to a season-low 23 rushing yards, Southern running back Darren Coates had 110 yards and one TD on eight catches. Plus, seldom-used sophomore wide receiver Clevan White had career highs of 107 yards and eight catches. Lee was 21-for-29 for 254 yards and three TDs before the injury.

“This is tough. This is a game we had in our hands,” Coates said. “It’s just time for some young guys to step up and fill in the shoes of the old guys. There’s no time to wait on them. You just have to have some young guys to step up and play big.”

At one point, Southern ran out of space on its training table on the sideline for injured players in the second half. Landry and Lee were back-to-back, while Ray was put on a mobile stretcher. Landry and Lee eventually left together on a field service truck.

“Guys started going down,” SU coach Pete Richardson said. “We don’t have the depth. They kept pounding us up front. Those things happen.”

Southern (5-2, 3-2), with a two-game losing skid, entered with a 79-23 advantage over opponents in the second half. But Jackson State (4-2, 4-0 SWAC), with a four-game winning streak, outscored the Jaguars 15-6 in the second half.

“We’re in great shape, and most of the time in the second half all year long we’ve been dominating pretty good,” Jackson State coach Rick Comegy said. “I’m not taking anything away from their shape, but we’re in excellent shape in the second half. And I thought we’d come back.”

Warren Matthews, a sophomore, threw his first-career touchdown pass to Nick Benjamin, who caught his first-career touchdown, to get the Jaguars within 30-26 by converting a third-and-16 with 6:22 to play.

Photo: SU linebacker Allan Baugh is tackled by running back Cody Hull after Baugh intercept-ing a pass.

But then Jackson State ran five minutes off the clock. SU got the ball back with 1:10 to play at its own 2-yard line, which led JSU defensive end Sam Washington drawing a safety for a 32-26 lead with 1:03 left. Washington had Matthews in the grasp, when Matthews threw the ball away.

“This was a terrible loss for us,” Southern free safety Glenn Bell said.

Southern led 20-17 at halftime after two interceptions of Oliver.

First, Efe Osawemenze’s interception at the Jackson State 38 with 48 seconds remaining set up Lee’s 7-yard TD pass to Landry with 21 seconds until halftime.

Then, after Haw broke a 55-yard run to the SU 11 with 11 seconds left, Bell tipped and intercepted Oliver to preserve the threat.

From there, Oliver, who was pressing in the first half, settled down. Oliver went 11-for-13 for 123 yards and a TD in the second hallf.

“You just have to get Jimmy and put it up on the chalkboard for him at halftime, let him see it and then once he sees it, understands it and gets a good concept of what we want him to do, and he did it,” Comegy said.

Jackson State took control with a 10-play, 92-yard drive that led to a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jaymar Johnson and a 24-20 lead with 7:29 left in the third quarter.

Landry went out on Southern’s next offensive play.

Then JSU went 57 yards to set up a 37-yard Eric Perri field goal for a 27-20 lead with 1:15 left in the third quarter.

Ray left during that series, getting the worst of a lick on Haw, and Lee went out on Southern’s next offensive play after the score.

Perri’s third field goal gave JSU a 30-20 lead with 11:12 left.

Matthews, 6-for-12 for 83 yards and one touchdown, was good on a 72-yard touchdown drive to get the Jaguars within 32-26.

Jackson State ran for 181 yards and held the ball for 39:50.

“They kept on running it, and we just couldn’t stop it,” SU cornerback Efe Osawemwenze said.