BATON ROUGE, La. | The Alabama A&M University football team started slow and could not recover as the Bulldogs dropped a 20-10 decision to open Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play on Saturday night against Southern at A.W. Munford Stadium. 

Southern (1-2 overall, 1-0 SWAC) took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in eight plays as Harold Blood connected with Gary Quarles for 56 yards as the Jaguars grabbed the 7-0 lead with 11:24 remaining in the first quarter. 

Alabama A&M (1-2, 0-1) rallied and closed the gap to 7-3 as the Bulldogs got a 39-yard field goal by Victor Barbosa with 5:26 left in the first half. 

However, the Jaguars matched the field goal by AAMU. Southern put together an 11-play, 63-yard drive, taking more than three minutes off the clock as Joshua Griffin drilled a 40-yard field goal with just under two minutes remaining in the second quarter.  

After an Alabama A&M punt, Southern went right to work and appeared to be going in for another score right before halftime.  

Blood connected with Kendric Rhymes for 25 yards but fumbled the ball at the AAMU 1 as Jamarion Ellis recovered the loose ball, keeping the Jaguars within one score at 10-3. 

Both teams found the endzone in the third quarter. 

Southern took advantage of a Bulldog fumble to extend the lead. Quincy Casey coughed up the ball and was recovered by Davin Cotton at the AAMU 9. On the very next play, Quarles scored on the 9-yard touchdown run, giving the Jaguars a 17-3 advantage with 11:23 remaining. 

After a Southern punt, Alabama A&M went to work at its own 13, and slowly moved the ball down the field. The big play was a Quincy Casey to Jacolby Hewitt 28-yard play. On 4th-and-17 from the SU 24, Casey completed a 23-yard pass to Terrell Gardner, setting up first-and-goal from the Jaguar 1. After an SU timeout, Casey plunged from 1-yard out, cutting the deficit to 17-10 with less than a minute remaining in the third. 

The Bulldogs put together a potential game-tying drive but Donovan Eaglin had the ball forced out at the SU 1 by Keylin Roach and the Jaguars recovered with just under seven minutes to play. 

Despite the turnover, Southern could not move the football and turned it back over to the Bulldogs on a punt with 4:55 to play. 

Alabama A&M turned the ball over again and the Jaguars got a 15-yard field goal by Griffin as Southern extended the margin to 20-10 with two minutes remaining. 
 
CHECKING THE BOX SCORE 

• Alabama A&M finished with 211 total yards of offense 
• The Bulldogs recorded 18 first downs 
• Quincy Casey went 19 of 39 for 228 yards and one interception 
• Donovan Eaglin recorded 35 yards on 14 carries 
• Terrell Gardner caught six passes for 79 yards 
• Defensively, Zareon Hayes and Marvin Smith each recorded six total tackles 
• Southern finished with 287 total yards, including 225 through the air 
• The Jaguars tallied 14 first downs 
• Harold Blood went 14 of 24 passing for 202 yards and one score 
• Gary Quarles rushed 18 times for 36 yards 
• Chandler Whitfield caught three passes for 58 yards 
• Jordan Carter, Ckelby Givens and Davin Cotton each recorded seven total tackles 

UP NEXT 
It's a short week for the Bulldogs as Alabama A&M will play host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff under the lights at Louis Crew Stadium on Thursday night. Kickoff against the Golden Lions is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcasted live on ESPNU.