Freshman running back leads Troy win

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The future is now for Troy at the running back position.

Freshman Shawn Southward tied a school record with four touchdowns in his first start, running for 139 yards on 19 carries as the Trojans won their seventh straight with a 40-20 win at Western Kentucky Saturday.

Southward started in place of junior DuJuan Harris, an all-conference pick and 1,000-yard rusher last season who had struggled this year. Southward’s 139 yards was the first time a Troy player had run for 100 yards this year, and his four scores tied Phillip Jones’ mark in 1997 against Jacksonville State.

Southward’s north-south style of rushing caught the eyes of Troy coaches early. His 2-yard run in the second quarter tied the game at 14-all. In the second half, he provided all the scoring as he ran for touchdowns of 1, 10 and 39 yards.

“Sometimes it’s just a style,” Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. “Shawn will really take the football, stick his foot in the ground and get north with it. I’m really happy for him, and I like what I see out of him. He came here very mature for a freshman.”

Blakeney said the Troy offensive coaches decided in the middle of the week to name Southward the starter. Harris scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter to give Troy a 21-17 lead, but he had just seven yards on six carries. Harris had an 18-yard reception that set up a Troy score, and Southward had a 16-yard reception.

“Shawn has showed us in practice and in games that he deserves more carries,” Blakeney said. “They told me in the middle of the week that they were going to start him. I don’t disagree with that. DuJuan’s a guy that we’ve still got to have, and he’ll continue to work and he means a lot to this football team.”

Said Southward, “I wasn’t nervous. I was excited that he was going to give me a chance to start. Honestly, I didn’t expect (the four-touchdown performance), but it feels great to do it. I did good. There’s a lot of stuff I need to work on, but I did all right. I need to give a lot of credit to the offensive line.”

It definitely wasn’t an easy game for Troy (7-2, 6-0 Sun Belt), which was playing a WKU team that has now lost 17 straight games. The Hilltoppers came out firing on their homecoming, scoring first on a 7-yard run by freshman quarterback Kawaun Jakes.

After Levi Brown hit Zack Marcum for a 10-yard score, Jakes hit Marcus Vasquez for an 18-yard touchdown that gave WKU (0-9, 0-5) a 14-7 lead. WKU led 17-14 with 5:03 left in the first half on a Casey Tinius 29-yard field goal, and the Hilltoppers trailed 21-20 on Tinius’ 43-yard field goal with five seconds left in the first half.

WKU had lost 68-49 last week to North Texas and put up 422 yards in the game, 233 in the first half.

“They had us schemed out a little bit,” Troy linebacker Bear Woods said. “We had a defense for them, and they had a little twist. The way they run that stretch (a play where the quarterback makes a read and can hand off or run himself), all they need is one little ray of light and they can hit it. We ended up making adjustments in the second half, and they didn’t even run that play.”

Jakes threw for 185 yards on 19-of-34 passes and ran for 121 yards on 18 carries, including a 56-yard run on a stretch play. He also had an 11-yard reception.

But for Troy, a special teams play was the spark, as WKU’s Jake Gaebler fumbled a punt late in the second quarter that Troy’s Xavier Lamb recovered at the WKU 5-yard line. Two plays later, Harris gave Troy a 21-17 lead with his 5-yard score.

The Trojans’ defense stepped up in the second half and proved its worth. Defensive end Brandon Lang had a monster game with 13 tackles, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. Chris Bowens had 12 tackles at safety and Woods had 11 tackles, 1.5 for loss. Defensive end Mario Addison had 2.5 tackles for loss.

With the win, Troy is one conference game away from clinching at least a share of a fourth straight title. Troy is bowl eligible with the win and plays at Arkansas next week at 6:30 p.m.

“In the first half, we didn’t play to our potential. In the second half, we played like champions,” Woods said.

First quarter
9:57 WKU 7, Troy 0: Kawaun Jakes 7 run. (Casey Tinius PAT). 11 plays, 74 yards, 5:03. Key play: A WR pass from Anthony Sheppard to QB Kawuan Jakes on a third down play gained 11 to the Troy 7.

8:00 WKU 7, Troy 7: Zack Marcum 10 pass from Levi Brown (Michael Taylor PAT). 8 plays, 74 yards, 1:52. Key play: Levi Brown hit Jason Bruce for a 25-yard gain to the WKU 10.

Second quarter
13:05 WKU 14, Troy 7: Marcus Vasquez 18 pass from Jakes (Tinius PAT). 9 plays, 70 yards, 3:41. Key play: Jakes’ pass to Jack Doyle for a 30-yard gain to the Troy 18.

11:19 WKU 14, Troy 14: Shawn Southward 2 run (Taylor PAT). 6 plays, 55 yards, 1:41. Key play: DuJuan Harris with an 18-yard reception to the WKU 9.

5:03 WKU 17, Troy 14: Tinius 29-yard FG. 5 plays, 58 yards, 1:50. Key play: Jakes with a 54-yard run to the Troy 16 on the first play.

3:23 Troy 21, WKU 17: DuJuan Harris 5 run (Taylor PAT). 2 plays, 5 yards, 0:08. Key play: WKU fumbled a punt that Troy’s Xavier Lamb recovered at the WKU 5.

0:05 Troy 21, WKU 20: Tinius 43 FG. 7 plays, 46 yards, 3:12. Key play: Defensive holding on Troy’s David McDowell gave WKU the ball with 9 seconds left at the Troy 26.

Third quarter
7:13 Troy 28, WKU 20: Southward 1 run (Taylor PAT). 11 plays, 61 yards, 3:10. Key play: Southward’s 11-yard run to the WKU 3.

2:28 Troy 34, WKU 20: Southward 10 run (2-point play failed, botched snap). 9 plays, 70 yards, 2:55. Key play: A 15-yard reception by Austin Silvoy to the WKU 10.

Fourth quarter
6:30 Troy 40, WKU 20: Southward 39 run (PAT failed). 5 plays, 90 yards, 1:32. Key play: The touchdown.