MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama forced a school-record seven turnovers Saturday night and beat Henderson State 28-3, bouncing back from a double-overtime loss at Georgia State the week before.
The South Alabama win over Henderson State came in the Jaguars’ first game in all-blue uniforms. Running back Demetre Baker and kicker Jordan Means accounted for 22 of South Alabama’s 28 points, all of which came in the first half.
The teams met for the second straight season. South Alabama won last year’s meeting 37-31, sealing that game with a late field goal.
Takeaways Fuel a Fast Start
Both teams went three-and-out on their opening possessions. On Henderson State’s second drive, Enrique Williams intercepted a pass to give the Jaguars the ball at the Reddies’ 25-yard line. South Alabama reached first-and-goal at the 2, but three straight runs, two by Kendall Houston and one by Baker, did not reach the end zone, and Means kicked a field goal for a 3-0 lead.
On the first play of Henderson State’s third possession, Clifton Crews forced a fumble that Gabe Loper recovered. Baker then ran for 16 yards and followed with a 7-yard touchdown run, putting South Alabama ahead 10-0 in a span of about three minutes.
The Reddies lined up to punt on their fourth possession but ran a fake, and the runner was stopped short of the 1 yard needed for a first down. South Alabama took over at the Henderson State 29, and Baker scored his second touchdown. On the point-after try, holder Taylor Noon handled the snap and pitched to Means, who was stopped short, leaving the Jaguars ahead 16-0 with 1:57 left in the first quarter.
Building a 28-0 Halftime Lead
After another Henderson State three-and-out, South Alabama started at its own 27. Jereme Jones nearly lost yardage on the play but broke free for a 65-yard run to the Reddies’ 8 before he was pushed out of bounds. Jones was hurt on the play and went to the sideline and later to the locker room.
The Jaguars reached first-and-goal at the 4, but three consecutive Baker runs came up short. Means kicked a short field goal for a 19-0 lead with 12:52 left in the second quarter.
Henderson State moved as far as the South Alabama 43 on its next drive before punting, and the kick was downed at the Jaguar 14. Tight end Paul Bennett then caught a pass from quarterback C.J. Bennett but fumbled, and the Reddies recovered at the South Alabama 42. On third-and-6 of that possession, the Jaguars forced a fumble that Romelle Jones recovered at the South Alabama 44.
South Alabama drove 56 yards in nine plays, with C.J. Bennett running 9 yards for the touchdown. Means’ extra point was blocked, and the Jaguars led 25-0 with 4:15 left before halftime.
Henderson State started its next drive at its own 32 after fair-catching a short kickoff and reached the Jaguar 37, but South Alabama held on fourth-and-11 from the 42.
The Jaguars then went to their hurry-up offense. Bennett completed passes of 3 yards to Lamontis Gardner, 8 yards to Bryant Lavender and 13 yards to Corey Waldon, with South Alabama using two timeouts along the way, then spiked the ball to stop the clock. Bennett ran for 6 yards to the Henderson State 28 before stepping out of bounds. After an incompletion, Means made a 45-yard field goal into the wind with nine seconds left in the half, clearing the crossbar for a 28-0 lead.
Second Half
South Alabama played the first half without a penalty but was less sharp after intermission. The only second-half points came on a Henderson State field goal with 33 seconds left in the third quarter, which ended the shutout bid.
The margin allowed head coach Joey Jones to play deep into his depth chart for the second time this season. At one point, only one offensive starter was on the field. Freshman running back J.J. Keels received extended playing time, and tight end Greg Hollinger played more than he had all season.
The Jaguar secondary played without defensive backs Damond Smith and B.J. Scott. Jereme Jones suffered a hyperextended shoulder, and his status for Thursday’s game had not been determined.
Jones on the Defense
Jones credited the defense and the turnovers for the result.
“Those takeaways were big and we had a short field on offense a good bit tonight, and that’s always a good thing,” Jones said. “I thought we really played a good game defensively for the entire game. We didn’t give up any big plays, and if we don’t do that then we are going to be very hard to score on. They did that tonight and I was proud of them.”
“We were prepared, the coaches had them prepared and we had a good week of practice,” he said. “We match up with teams that are in the spread formation pretty well. I think our athletes fit the spread defensively, and we had a good pass rush tonight. That’s one thing we haven’t had in a while. We put pressure on the quarterback, and we were hitting them and trying to knock the ball loose.”
By the Numbers
- Final: South Alabama 28, Henderson State 3
- Total offense: South Alabama 375 (252 rushing, 123 passing); Henderson State 210 (55 rushing, 155 passing)
- Time of possession: South Alabama 37:06, Henderson State 22:54
- Turnovers forced: 7, a school record
Baker posted his first 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 113 yards on 20 carries. Jereme Jones had 65 yards on his only carry. Myles Gibbon ran seven times for 27 yards, and Keels added 27 yards on 12 carries. Houston carried three times for 4 yards, all on the opening scoring drive.
C.J. Bennett completed 11 of 18 passes for 101 yards with one interception. Gibbon was 4 of 8 for 22 yards. Waldon caught three passes for 35 yards, and Lavender had three catches for 26 yards.
Up Next
South Alabama faces a quick turnaround, hosting Mississippi Valley State on Thursday night at Ladd-Peebles Stadium with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. The Jaguars will wear white uniforms, and the athletic department is asking fans to wear white to the game.
Update: Henderson State Entering the Game
Henderson State arrived in Mobile at 4-3 and riding a three-game winning streak. The Reddies’ wins had come against Harding (35-21), West Georgia (50-30), Southeastern Oklahoma (30-14) and East Central Oklahoma (42-21 in overtime). The game was the first of three home dates to close South Alabama’s third season.
- Scoring: Henderson State averaged 30.7 points per game and allowed 27.9.
- Offense: 346.9 yards per game (2,428 total), including 1,449 passing yards on 152-of-252 attempts with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and 979 rushing yards at 4.4 yards per carry with 15 rushing touchdowns.
- Defense: 384.3 yards allowed per game (2,690 total), including 240 passing yards per game with opponents throwing 12 touchdowns and four interceptions, and 144.3 rushing yards per game at 3.7 per carry.
- Ball security: The Reddies had fumbled 20 times and lost 11, while their defense had forced 20 fumbles and recovered 11.
- Penalties: 64 for 577 yards, an average of 82.4 yards per game.
- Situational: 27-of-93 (29 percent) on third down and 8-of-13 on fourth down; scored on 76 percent of red-zone trips, with touchdowns on 65 percent.
- Special teams: 22.6 yards per kickoff return and 12.7 yards per punt return; opponents averaged 20.3 and 3.8.
Running back Jarvis Smith led Henderson State with 603 yards on 85 carries. Quarterback Nathan Nall had completed 80 of 137 passes for 790 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions in six games, while Kevin Rodgers was 72-of-115 with five touchdowns and six interceptions in four games; Rodgers was expected to start with Nall reportedly injured. Nick Johnson (26 catches, 213 yards, three touchdowns) and Robert Jordan (24 catches, 263 yards) were the leading receivers.
Earlier in the week, South Alabama announced that its regular-season finale against Cal Poly, set for a 4 p.m. kickoff, would be televised locally by UTV44 and streamed nationally on ESPN3.com.
