BATON ROUGE -- Southern University's 'Dog Day' defense made a statement early to dominate the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions 56-24 at A.W. Mumford Stadium Saturday evening, pushing their winning streak to four games.
With the win, Southern sets up a win-or-go-home regular season finale against heated rival Grambling State University at the 45th annual Bayou Classic at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans November 24, at 4 p.m. on NBC Sports.
Southern (5-1 SWAC, 6-3 Overall) pounced on UAPB on the first play of the game when Timothy Thomas intercepted a jump ball thrown by UAPB's Skyler Perry, which set up the Jaguars at their own 46-yard line.
Southern marched down the field on a 6-play, 54-yard drive capped by Jamarqueza Mims' five-yard touchdown.
Southern's special team came up with the next big play forcing a UAPB fumble which was recovered by Ceasar Barajas on the ensuing kickoff.
Southern only needed a one play drive to hit pay dirt, capped by Ladarius Skelton's 28-yard toss to Randall Menard making it his first touchdown catch of the 2018-19 season.
UAPB got on the board on Perry's 8-yard pitch and catch to Dejuan Miller to cut the lead to 14-6.
Skelton continued to light up the scoreboard, responding with a 57-yard touchdown to Menard and a 45-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Register to extend the lead 28-6.
Devon Benn scored Southern's next touchdown on a 1-yard scamper after Jeremias Houston's 74-yard reception giving the Jaguars a 35-9 lead.
Skelton closed the half with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Trey Smith to take a 42-9 lead into intermission.
Southern has outscored their opponents 101-9 in the first half dating back to the Prairie View A&M game on October 13.
Skelton recorded a career night passing the rock, completing 12 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns.
John Lampley replaced Skelton in the second half, completing all his passes (4) while adding a 20-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Catalon to open the second half.
UAPB used a 12-play 71-yard drive to add a touchdown, to cut the lead, 49-17.
Southern Christopher Chaney added another big play, a 43-yard rush up the sideline to end the scoring for the Jaguars extending the lead to 56-17.
UAPB ended the scoring with a 17-play, 81-yard drive to end the game 56-24.
Both Southern and Grambling will have their eyes locked on next Saturday's Jackson State-Alcorn State finale which will decide the SWAC Eastern division and determine who will host the 2018 SWAC Football Championship on December 1.
