BATON ROUGE, La. -- Jimmy Oliver passed for 308 yards and
three touchdowns and Eric Perri kicked three field goals and every
extra point as Jackson State beat Southern 32-26 Saturday night.
Oliver finished 21-for-31 with three interceptions for Jackson
State (4-2), which remained unbeaten in four Southwestern Athletic
Conference games. The loss was the second in a row for Southern
(5-2, 3-2).
The teams traded scores for the first two quarters. An 8-yard
pass from Oliver to Jaymar Johnson was answered by Bryant Lee's
31-yard pass to Darren Coates. Perri's 27-yard field goal was
followed by Lee's 30-yard touchdown pass to Gerard Landry.
Chris Johnson scored on a 5-yard pass from Oliver, and Lee and
Landry connected again at 7 yards with 21 seconds left in the half
to put Southern up 20-17 at halftime.
Lee finished 21-for-29 for 254 yards and three touchdowns.
Jackson State marched the ball 92 yards on 10 plays and Oliver
threw 21 yards to Jaymar Johnson to put the Tigers ahead for good
at 24-20 with 7:29 left in the third quarter. Perri's 37- and
27-yard field goals put the game out of reach.
Nick Benjamin caught a 22-yard pass from Warren Mathews to bring
Southern close again, 30-26, but Sam Washington had a safety for
the final margin.
Erik Haw led all rushers with 135 yards on 23 carries for
Jackson State. Clevan White led Southern's with 21 yards on one
carry.