BATON ROUGE, La. — Kentucky State Football mounted a third-quarter surge behind a pair of
Jaun Gainous touchdown passes and finished with a game-high 378 yards of offense, but the Thorobreds fell to Southern 34-15 Saturday night at A.W. Mumford Stadium.
Kentucky State controlled the opening quarter offensively, outgaining Southern 85-37 while running 18 plays. The Thorobreds' defense also kept the Jaguars in check, limiting Southern to 37 yards in the period.
With seconds remaining in the first quarter,
Denim Johnson connected with
Darius Cyprian for a 32-yard completion, moving the Thorobreds into the red zone at the Jaguars' 17-yard line. However, on third down early in the second quarter, Johnson's pass was intercepted and returned 83 yards for a touchdown, giving Southern a 7-0 lead with 13:44 remaining in the period.
A 52-yard punt by
Leland Gantz pinned Southern at its 4-yard line. On the first play of the ensuing drive, the Jaguars fumbled at the goal line before recovering the ball in the end zone, where
Tray Blackmon Jr. made the tackle for a safety. The play put Kentucky State on the board and cut the deficit to 7-2 with 5:54 remaining in the second quarter.
In the closing moments of the first half, Southern capped a 65-yard drive with a touchdown but missed the ensuing extra point, taking a 13-2 lead into halftime.
Southern extended its lead to 20-2 on a 16-yard touchdown run with 9:02 remaining in the third quarter.
The Jaguars added a 25-yard touchdown reception to extend the margin to 27-2 with 5:09 remaining in the third.
Gainous connected with
Tristan Thomas for a 72-yard touchdown pass, cutting Southern's lead to 27-9 with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. Kentucky State carried that momentum into the ensuing kickoff, recovering an onside kick at its 47-yard line.
Following a Southern pass interference penalty, Gainous completed back-to-back passes to
Jaden Hale, with the second going for a 15-yard touchdown. The Thorobreds failed to convert the two-point attempt, leaving Southern ahead 27-15 with 1:40 remaining in the third quarter.
Southern capped a seven-play, 55-yard drive with the final touchdown of the night to seal a 34-15 victory.
Kentucky State finished with several standout individual performances. Cyprian led all receivers with eight catches for 77 yards, while Thomas paced all rushers with 110 yards and added a receiving touchdown. Thomas also recorded the longest reception of the game with his 72-yard touchdown catch.
The Thorobreds totaled a game-high 378 yards of offense, including 245 through the air. Gainous accounted for 196 passing yards, completing 17 of 31 attempts with two touchdowns and a long of 72 yards. Johnson added 49 passing yards.
Defensively,
Roman Hernandez led all players with 12 tackles, including eight solo stops and four assists. Gantz also delivered a strong performance in the punting game, totaling 384 yards on eight punts for a 48.0-yard average. He recorded a long of 57 yards and placed five punts inside the 20-yard line.
Kentucky State will remain on the road for an SIAC matchup against Clark Atlanta on Sept. 12 in Atlanta.
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