Eligibility struggles return for Southern before Northwestern State cruises to 51-27 win

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  -- Southern’s chronic eligibility issues dealt the Jaguars secondary a 1-2-3 punch just before kickoff Saturday night in A.W. Mumford Stadium.

Northwestern State quarterback Zach Adkins was even harder on the defensive backfield, setting school records with 30 completions for the game and 19 consecutive, as well as tying a school record with four touchdown passes.

Adkins, a senior who passed for 331 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-point victory against the Jaguars last season, had just five incompletions as he passed for 230 yards in Northwestern State’s 51-27 victory.

“He was on fire tonight,” Demons coach Jay Thomas said. “He’s usually very, very consistent anyway, but he was really on tonight.”

Southern (1-2) begins defense of its Southwestern Athletic Conference championship when it visits Prairie View on Saturday. The Demons (1-2) next visit Louisiana Tech.

Starting cornerbacks Kevin King and D’Andre Woodland and starting safety Dionte McDuffy were dressed and ready to start before being told just minutes before kickoff that they couldn’t play. King had gone to midfield as a game captain to participate in the pregame coin toss before being pulled.

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