Sports

OFFENSE SHOWS UP AGAINST SOUTHERN

By Josh Tinker/COMMERCIAL SPORTS EDITOR
Sunday, November 1, 2009 12:20 AM CDT

The surprise wasn’t that the Southern Jaguars offense showed up Saturday at Golden Lion Stadium.

UAPB’s Hezekiah Smith keeps an eye on Southern’s Timothy Berry as he makes his way safely into the end zone for UAPB’s first touchdown. PINE BLUFF COMMERCIAL/RALPH FITZGERALD.

Entering a matchup with Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the Jaguars were first in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in scoring offense, total offense and pass offense. And while their 335 total yards nearly equaled their SWAC leading average, the surprise came from the Golden Lions, who nearly out-gunned the Jaguars.

UAPB entered the contest ranked as the third-worst offensive team in the SWAC, but its 330 total yards of offense, its second best total of the season, left the Golden Lions only two drive-ending fumbles away from potentially finishing on the winning end of 24-10 Southern victory.

“I thought we really came in with good gameplans on offense,” UAPB coach Monte Coleman said. “We moved the ball very successfully, we just couldn’t finish.”

While Coleman was mostly upset with two drive-killing fumbles — the first by Mickey Dean at the Southern 10-yard line that ended an 11-play drive by the Golden Lions just before the half, and the second by Dhabion Woodfin at the Southern 9 that ended a 14-play drive in the third quarter — the second-year coach was otherwise pleased with his offense’s performance.

All season, Coleman has said he wants his team to either pass to set up the run or run to set up the pass.

On Saturday, the Golden Lions (5-3, 2-1 SWAC) did just that. Early on, UAPB used the legs and arm of quarterback Josh Boudreaux, who grew up about 30 minutes from the Southern campus, on rollout passes.

As a result, the junior quarterback connected on his first eight passes. Starting only his second game of the season after replacing an ineffective Rontrell Bailey during a 20-13 victory over Jackson State on Oct. 10, Boudreax finished 17-for-25 for 182 yards and a touchdown, including completing at least one pass to 10 different receivers.

“I’m just trying to make something happen,” Boudreaux said.

He did just that for the Golden Lions’ lone touchdown, a 33-yard strike to fullback Hezekiah Smith in which Boudreaux scrambled left to elude defenders and hurled a pass to Smith, who ran over a defender and tip-toed along the sideline on his way to the end zone.

“If you hit 10 different receivers you can’t double any one person,” Coleman said. “It keeps you guessing as a defensive coach, where they’re going to throw the football. He (Boudreaux) has the ability to spread the football. He’s smart enough to get the ball where we needed it to the open man.”

As a result, the Golden Lions rushing attack began to take off. With the Jaguars (5-3, 2-2) having to account for the Golden Lions’ aerial attack, running lanes were opened for running backs Dean and Woodfin. Each averaged more than 5 yards per carry with Dean, who played his first significant snaps since injuring a hamstring in a win against Mississippi Valley State on Sept. 19, carrying 18 times for 97 yards. Woodfin added another 41 yards on 8 carries.

“I was out there thinking about my leg the whole time to be honest with you,” Dean said. “After a couple of plays I was back to my regular self. ...I did all right for sitting out for a month.”

The Golden Lions used the two backs on their first drive of the second half that ended with Woodfin’s fumble. That drive spanned 14 plays, with 13 of them being running plays. Dean carried seven times for 39 yards on the drive that could have tied the score had the Golden Lions found the end zone, and Woodfin carried three times for 19 yards.

“We can do a lot of things with our offense. It’s dangerous at times,” Boudreaux said. “We have to know how to put the ball in the end zone in order to win this conference. We’ve got Grambling next week. It’s going to be the same thing. We have to learn how to put the ball in the end zone.”

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