Vicksburg Daily News –
Vicksburg native Reed Buys helped the University of South Alabama to a 48-14 win over Appalachian State on Thursday night. Reed starred on the offensive line where the Jaguars rushed for 320 yards, five rushing touchdowns, 154 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.
Reed is a Warren Central graduate where he starred for the Vikings before signing with Jones College, Mississippi State University and the University of South Alabama.
Last night’s win below: Story from USA Athletics:
BOONE, N.C. – Behind 320 rushing yards and a dominant defensive effort, South Alabama Football dismantled App State, 48-14, Thursday night on national television in front of a sold-out crowd at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The win improved South Alabama’s record to 2-2 overall on the year with a 1-0 mark in league play as the game served as South’s Sun Belt Conference opener.
“The kids are so excited. They have a lot of confidence because they knew they were capable of this,” said head coach Major Applewhite. “To be able perform like this on the road against a quality opponent that has been a standard bearer in our conference for years was great. There’s a lot of excitement and smiles in that locker room right now. You don’t want to throw a wet blanket on it, but there’s also a lot of things that we have to fix. It’s great that we all came together tonight and had this type of a win. We will build on this.”
Both the offense and defense were clicking from the opening kickoff for the Jaguars. The offense scored touchdowns on four of its first-five possessions and went 75 yards in six plays on its opening drive to secure a lead that it would never relinquish. The USA defense produced four punts and an interception on App State’s first-five possessions to give the Jags plenty of breathing room to cruise to victory.
Quarterback Gio Lopez had a big night passing and rushing as he threw for 154 yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball seven times for 105 yards and an additional score. His primary receiving target on the night was Jamaal Pritchett who caught six passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. True freshman running back Fluff Bothwell joined Lopez over the century mark with 116 yards and two touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock and Iverson Celestine also pitched in rushing touchdowns on the night.
Linebacker Blayne Myrick served as South’s leading tackler for the game with nine takedowns, but it was Jordan Scruggs who provided the highlight play on defense. With minutes remaining in the first half and the Mountaineers threatening to score inside the red zone, Scruggs stepped in front of an App State pass and picked it off inside the end zone. He then returned the ball 96 yards to the App State four, which set up a Bullock touchdown carry to give USA a 28-0 lead. Scruggs’ interception return is the longest in South Alabama Football history. Linebacker Darius McKenzie also recorded a takeaway for the Jags by jumping on a fumble in the third quarter.
South Alabama has now scored 135 points in its last two games while surrendering just 24. That is the most in a two-game stretch in program history.
UP NEXT
The Jaguars will play their second road game on national television in as many weeks when they invade SEC territory to take on LSU at Tiger Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28. Kickoff is slated for 6:45 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on SEC Network.
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