BATON ROUGE, La.
— Cam Jefferson and Jalen Woods teamed up for a spectacular 71-yard touchdown pass, leading Southern to a decisive 31-9 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday. This win secured Southern’s place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship game.

The Jaguars finished the game with a record of 7-4 overall and 6-1 in the conference, and they are scheduled to host Grambling in the upcoming weeks. Following that, they will face the Eastern Division champions, Jackson State, in the conference title game set for December 7. Earlier in the season, Southern suffered a defeat to Jackson State with a score of 33-15; however, it is important to note that games across different divisions do not impact the conference standings.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff, who faced challenges throughout the season, initially took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to two field goals from Trey Glymph. However, Southern bounced back, with Kendric Rhymes and Kobe Dillon both contributing rushing touchdowns, allowing the Jaguars to lead 14-6 by halftime.

In the third quarter, Woods expanded the lead for Southern with his touchdown pass, pushing the advantage to 15 points. Joshua Griffin also added a field goal, and Willie Miles sealed the victory with a 7-yard fumble return for the Jaguars’ final score.

For the Jaguars, Woods ended the game with 202 yards passing, including one touchdown and an interception. On the other side, Mehki Hagens completed 14 of 27 passes for 216 yards for Arkansas-Pine Bluff.