5 TDS not nearly enough for UAPB

Arkansas- Pine Bluff couldn’t keep up with Southern University on Saturday night.

Austin Howard threw three touchdown passes to Reggie Travis as Southern defeated UAPB 51-36 at A.W. Munford Stadium in Baton Rouge.

Howard, making his third start, completed 14 of 22 passes with only 1 interception, and Travis finished with 5 catches for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns.

UAPB quarterback Benjamin Anderson completed 18 of 41 passes for 289 yards with 2 touchdown passes and 1 interception, but he couldn’t pace with the Jaguars’ offense.

Howard’s first pass good for a 79-yard touchdown to Travis on the second play of Southern’s opening drive that gave the Jaguars (3-3, 2-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) a 7-0 lead with 14:12 left in the opening quarter, setting the tone for an offense that scored 34 points in the opening half.

UAPB (1-4, 0-3) answered Southern’s first score when Antonio Jenkins sacked Howard and caused a fumble and Kyle Walker pounced on it for a touchdown that tied the game at 7-7 with 6:36 left in the quarter.

Southern responded with Danny Johnson returning the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to give the Jaguars a 14-7 lead.

The Golden Lions answered again when Anderson ran for a 1-yard score to tie it at 14-14 with 3:43 left in the first quarter, but Howard hit Travis with another touchdown pass, this one covering 11 yards, as Southern took the lead again at 20-14.

UAPB took its only lead with 8:43 left in the first half when Anderson threw a 9-yard pass to C.J. Branch and Tyler Strickland kicked the extra point for a 21-20 lead, but Southern’s offense was just getting started.

Brian McCain scored on a 1-yard run to give Southern the lead for good, 27-21 with 4:27 left in the half, and the Jaguars led 34-21 at halftime after Howard threw a 27-yard pass to Samuel Altman with 42 seconds left in the second quarter.

Willie Quinn threw a 41yard touchdown pass to Travis as Southern extended its lead to 41-21 lead in the third quarter, and Greg Pittman kicked a 27-yard field goal to give Southern a 44-21 lead with 12:54 left in the game.

Anderson threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Rowland to pull UAPB to within 44-28 with 7:03 left, but Southern answered with it s final score on a 9-yard run by Jarmarcus Jarvis.

Aaron LaGrone scored on a 12-yard run with 31 seconds left and Anderson added the two-point conversion to close out the scoring.