Takeaways key for Golden Lions
BATON ROUGE — A university steeped in football tradition found its fan base for its first home game of the season in the midst of a pandemic.
Southern University welcomed 7,541 fans to A.W. Mumford Stadium as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff kicked off a game for the first time in almost 16 months. UAPB took a 33-14 lead on the perennial-power Jaguars with 7:08 left in the third quarter, and what seemed like easy sailing hit rough waters, so to speak, as the Jaguars staged a comeback that fell just short.
“In the back of my mind, I knew they would make a run,” said Doc Gamble, who earned his first win as the Golden Lions’ head coach.
The Lions (1-0) came away with a 33-30 victory and can credit its defense in large part. Despite allowing 426 total yards, the Lions had four takeaways, including interceptions by Jalon Thigpen, Shawn Steele and Keyvien Johnson.
“We emphasize a lot that we want to take the ball away,” Gamble said. “A lot of times, the more you get turnovers, the better your chances are of winning the game.”
Johnson returned his pick 45 yards down to the Southern 15 with 46 seconds to go. Omar Allen Jr. had two carries to force Southern to burn its two remaining timeouts, and quarterback Skyler Perry took a knee to run out the clock.
Before the interceptions, UAPB needed to make some adjustments on defense after allowing Southern (2-1) to go 98 yards on 15 plays in the first quarter. The Jaguars earned seven first downs on the drive that gave them a 7-3 lead.
“We just made a few adjustments here and there,” Gamble said. “They got some scholarship guys, too, so they’re a pretty good football team. After that first drive, I just told the guys, ‘Hey, we can’t allow that again.’”
The Lions didn’t. Their punting unit, led by Josh Sanchez’s 47-yard average on six punts, pinned the Jaguars inside their own 5-yard line two more times and contained them on both occasions.
PERRY’S TARGETS
UAPB junior quarterback Skyler Perry completed 11 straight passes from late in the first half to the second. One of those went 44 yards to redshirt senior Josh Wilkes, who caught four passes for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Tyrin Ralph had 86 yards on seven catches, Harry Ballard had four for 19 and Omar Allen Jr. had three for 10. Allen was the Lions’ second-leading rusher on the day with 54 yards on 10 carries, while Mattias Clark carried 15 times for 52 yards.
UAPB totaled 411 yards.
THE GAME CHANGED WHEN…
Junior linebacker Isaiah Singleton blocked a punt out of Southern’s end zone for a safety at the 5:19 mark of the second quarter to pull UAPB within 14-12.
UAPB scored touchdowns on its next three possessions to build its largest lead of the game … only for Southern to aid its rally with a blockedpunt return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
THE GAME BALL GOES TO…
Perry, who accounted for all of UAPB’s touchdowns. He had scoring rushes of 31 and 2 yards and completed 22 of 37 passes for 223 yards and two more TDs.
NEXT UP …
The Golden Lions will have a week off and will play at Grambling State on March 20. Kickoff is set for noon.
Grambling State lost its opener 33-28 at home to Deion Sanders-coached Jackson State (2-0) on Saturday.