Southern beats Fort Valley State 31-14 while continuing to walk the injury high-wire

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- A physically spent Southern coach Dawson Odums slumped into his chair after his team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 31-14 win against Fort Valley State.

He let out a breath that, to the listener, could’ve been heavy with either relief or exasperation depending on what he was about to say regarding his senior quarterback, Austin Howard, who watched the second half in a sweat suit from the sidelines with an apparent injury.

Howard had already missed two games with injury. He lost his top receiver, Randall Menard, for the season last week against Alcorn State. The team’s leading rusher, Devon Benn, left the game with an injury in the first quarter Saturday and did not return.

“I might go get some treatment,” Odums said as he slid into his chair. “I might as well go get in line with the rest of them.”

The night had its scares, but it seemed as if Odums and Southern (2-3) dodged any more significant injuries against Fort Valley State (1-3).



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