BATON ROUGE, La. - The Wildcats gave SWAC west-leading Southern all it could handle on the road, but came up just short as the Jaguars outlasted B-CU, 25-23 in five overtimes, Saturday afternoon at A.W. Mumford Stadium. 



Southern (6-4, 5-1 SWAC) won the toss, electing to defer. The Wildcats (2-8, 2-4 SWAC), with Cam'Ron Ransom returning to the starting role at QB after the injury to Luke Sprague in the home finale, immediately drove down the field on nine plays, marching down to the Southern 11 yard-line. Cade Hechter lined up for a 29-yard field goal attempt, but it clanged off the left upright to keep things scoreless. 

The Jaguars were not so successful on their opening drive, advancing only 16 yards before punting the ball away to the B-CU 30. 

Again the B-CU offense had success moving the ball as the Cats were able to again set up a Hechter field goal attempt in the dying seconds of the first quarter - this time a 45-yarder. Hechter's second attempt of the game ran true, and B-CU headed into the second quarter with a 3-0 advantage.

After defensive end Dallaz Corbitt's sack snuffed out another Southern possession, B-CU again charged down the field on a 16-play, 91-yard drive that powered the Cats all the way down to the Southern one-yard line. On fourth down, the Cats attempted a QB sneak to power Ransom across the plane, but the Jaguar defense stood tall, stuffing the Cats and forcing the turnover on downs. 

Southern finally crossed midfield on its ensuing drive, but another huge Corbitt sack, this time for a 14-yard loss, forced yet another Southern punt to send the game into the half with B-CU leading, 3-0. 

To open the second half of play, neither team crossed midfield until the four-minute mark, when B-CU barely crossed over to the Southern 48 before a punt gave the Jaguars the ball with 3:37 remaining.

A 31-yard Kobe Dillon rush gave the Jaguars some life on offense, as they found themselves all the way down at the B-CU one-yard line. On the final play of the third quarter, Kendric Rhymes was stuffed at the goal line by Corbitt and Ebenezer Dibula to set up a fourth-and-one at the goal line for Southern. Another attempt at a rush up the middle by Rhymes to open the fourth was unsuccessful, as Raymond Woodie III and Johnny Harris III returned Southern's favor with a goal-line stand to turn the ball over on downs for B-CU.

One drive later, Southern finally found offensive success as they took the lead with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Woods to Chandler Whitfield to move the Jaguars in front, 7-3. 

B-CU did not go quietly, as Ransom engineered a scoring drive of his own, finding Jostein Clarke for a 12-yard strike to move B-CU ahead again, 10-7.

The back-and-forth continued as Southern ate another three minutes off the clock with a drive that culminated in a 27-yard field goal to knot things at 10-all. 

On its next drive, Southern made what looked to be a critical mistake, as Andrew Volmar picked off Woods just past midfield to set the Cats up for a chance to win the game on a field goal in regulation with just under a minute to play. Unfortunately for B-CU, a 13-yard Southern sack forced a Wildcat punt, sending the two teams into overtime at 10-10. 

A thrilling overtime saw Southern start with the ball, scoring on 2nd-and-6 as CJ Russell gave the Jaguars the 17-10 lead. 

Just one play later, Dennis Palmer locked things up again at 17-17 with a 25-yard touchdown run. 

Southern answered again on just one play as Rhymes did his best Palmer impression with a 25-yard rushing score of his own. The Jaguars mandatory 2-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful. 

The Wildcats were not finished yet, as a Jaguar pass interference penalty and a 13-yard touchdown reception by tight end Thomas Nance gave B-CU a chance to win the ballgame with the two-point conversion. A broken play saw Ransom attempt to scramble for the score, but the game continued at 23-23.

Each side failed on its first two 2-point conversion attempts before finally Dillion punched through the endzone for Southern to put the Jags in front , 25-23. Ransom attempted to answer with a rush of his own, but B-CU's luck ran out as Southern held firm for the win. 



CAM SHOW
Cam'Ron Ransom returned to the starting role at the quarterback spot after last week's injury to Luke Sprague. He finished the game 23-36 passing for 243 yards and two touchdowns. He ran the ball 13 times for -24 yards.
 
DENNIS THE MENACE
True freshman Dennis Palmer broke through the endzone in overtime for his second touchdown in as many weeks. On the day, he rushed 19 times for 84 yards and the score.
 
TRUST IN THOMAS
Tight end Thomas Nance saw his most successful game as a Wildcat, leading the way for the receiving core with a game-high six receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown.
 
JO KNOWS
On only his sixth reception of the season, wide receiver Jostein Clarke found paydirt for his first touchdown in Maroon and Gold to give B-CU a lead late in the fourth quarter.
 
DALLAZ WITH A Z
Defensive end Dallaz Corbitt broke through Saturday with a pair of sacks against the Jaguars. He did so on five total tackles. He was the only Wildcat to record a sack on the day.
 
FREAKY FREDDY
Punter Anthony Frederique had an outstanding day Saturday, averaging 52.8 yards per punt on six punts. He booted four balls 50+ yards, placed two inside the 20, and kicked a long of 67 yards.
 
HEY LOOK, A LEAD!
Bethune-Cookman entered the half Saturday with a 3-0 lead. It marks the first time since the Clark Atlanta game back on September 21 that the Wildcats have headed into the half with a lead.
 
OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVERTIME
Saturday's 5OT contest marks the first overtime game for B-CU since a 28-25 2OT win over NC Central on November 8, 2018. The squad's first overtime game since joining the SWAC is also the longest overtime game for B-CU since the Cats went to eight overtimes in a 63-57 win over Virginia State on September 26, 1998




Just one more road game remains on the 2024 slate for the Wildcats as they head to Houston, Tex. to take on Texas Southern on Saturday, November 16. Kickoff is set for 3 pm. EST on SWAC Digital Network.


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--#HailWildcats--