Southern stands tall against Mississippi Valley

ITTA BENA, Mississippi — Dawson Odums might flip on the film and see a slew of corrections flickering on the screen in his office Sunday.

But he was in a forgiving mood ahead of a ride back to the Bluff on Saturday.

Standing outside the cramped locker room of Rice-Totten Stadium, the Southern coach declared his tolerance was softened by the 17-7 victory against Mississippi Valley State, one where a defense that has had its troubles this season almost pitched a shutout and a timely passing game picked up a sluggish ground attack.

“When it’s all said and done, no matter how many you win by,” Odums said, “what we try and tell our guys (is), the ‘W’ is important.”

None of the 3,986 fans would award style points to Southern (2-2, 2-0 SWAC) or Valley (0-4, 0-2), though.

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Southern cornerback D’Andre Woodland makes plays while filling in for Virgil Williams

ITTA BENA, Mississippi — Southern worked during the week hoping Virgil Williams, one of its senior captains and a top cornerback in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, would be healthy enough to play.

However, it was announced Friday he wouldn’t be able to play.

So, Southern turned to junior D’Andre Woodland.

And step up Woodland did.

“I think (Woodland) did an outstanding job,” coach Dawson Odums said. “It’s hard to replace No. 7. He’s valuable. We miss him, and he would make our defense a lot better.”

In replacing the Jaguars’ best defensive player, Woodland compiled six tackles, including two for loss, a pass breakup and a key fumble recovery early in the first quarter.

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Southern enjoys best first half of season at Valley

ITTA BENA, Miss. — After being outscored 86-26 in the first halves of three games this season, Southern was able to reverse its early game struggles Saturday.

Southern took a 3-0 lead into halftime after kicker Greg Pittman connected on a 22-yard field goal with 1:44 to play in the half in what eventually became a 17-7 victory.

Pittman’s field goal was set up by a 45-yard pass from quarterback Dray Joseph to wide receiver Willie Quinn on third-and-12 from the Jaguars’ 28.

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