HOUSTON (Interstat) — Texas Southern defeated Southern 24-21 in an NCAA Football Championship Division game on Saturday at Shell Energy Stadium. Miguel Arana III made a 46-yard field goal with one second remaining to break a tie and lift the Tigers after the Jaguars had erased a two-touchdown deficit. Attendance was 21,523. Texas Southern improved to 2-5. Southern fell to 3-5. Southern entered off a 28-14 win at Prairie View, while Texas Southern was coming off a 38-34 home loss to Mississippi Valley State.

Southern, the visiting team, opened the scoring when Christian Johnson connected with Damien Henderson Jr. on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 8:17 left in the first quarter. The Jaguars later had a 37-yard field goal attempt blocked by Donovan Jones. Texas Southern answered in the second quarter. Jacob Washington scored on a 5-yard run, and Athean Renfro Jr. followed with a 15-yard touchdown run. Arana made both extra points, and the Tigers took a 14-7 halftime lead. Southern had chances to add points before halftime but could not convert after the blocked kick.

Texas Southern extended its lead in the third quarter when Cam’Ron McCoy broke free for a 41-yard touchdown run with 10:55 remaining. Southern answered when Johnson found Wydell Clark Jr. for a 24-yard touchdown with 5:47 left in the period. The Jaguars tied the score in the fourth quarter on Trey Holly’s 2-yard touchdown run with 4:24 remaining, and the extra point made it 21-21. Texas Southern then moved into position for Arana’s game-winning kick. Arana converted the decisive 46-yard attempt with one second left, and the Tigers held on.

McCoy finished with 42 passing yards and 71 rushing yards on 16 carries, including the 41-yard scoring run. Thurman Rayborn made three tackles. Washington had four carries for 12 yards and a touchdown and returned a kickoff 18 yards. Roriyon Richardson caught two passes for 28 yards. Kordell Rodgers caught one pass for 7 yards and returned a kickoff. Daveon Walker had two receptions for 7 yards. Ryan Robinson Jr. and Darius Sims each made nine tackles for Texas Southern. Aaron Kizzee added seven stops. Josh Dorsainvil had six tackles and a sack. Donovan Jones recorded five tackles, one sack and the blocked field goal. Jordan Thompson, MJ Hinson, Fabian Wells and Nico Guerra each made four tackles. Brian Mays punted five times for 157 yards. Jacob Williams made three tackles. Javar Thomas, Garfield Lawrence, Quinton Murray, Machi Robinson and Kalvin Green each had two tackles. David Kency, Knowledge Davis, Lajuan Zaccaro, Markel McNeal and Malachi Philen each made one tackle. Arana handled the kicking duties and converted the decisive field goal.

For Southern, Johnson completed 11 of 18 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns and rushed six times for 6 yards. Holly carried 35 times for 156 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 29 yards. Henderson had three receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown and added a kickoff return and two punt returns. Clark caught one pass for 24 yards and a score. Mike Franklin added seven carries for 32 yards. Jayden Cook caught two passes for 14 yards. Daejawn Smith had one reception for 5 yards. Tay James led the Jaguars with 10 tackles and two sacks. Ty Lee and Hunter Schnakenberg each made seven tackles. Ckelby Givens had six tackles. De’Myrion Johnson and Bryson Jennings each recorded a sack. Michael Williams II made four tackles. Habib Bello added three tackles. Athean Renfro Jr. rushed 23 times for 135 yards and a touchdown for Texas Southern.

Southern’s defense also received tackles from Cayden Jones, Markeis Batiste, Cam Jefferson, Herman Brister III, Denzel Williams and Jairus Thurman. Jefferson returned a kickoff 11 yards, and Brister returned a kickoff. The game featured a late back-and-forth finish after Texas Southern had built a 21-7 lead in the third quarter. Southern pulled even on Holly’s scoring run before Arana delivered the final points. The Tigers finished with the win. Southern’s previous results this season include losses to Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Jackson State and a win over Louisiana Christian. Texas Southern’s previous results include losses to Florida Atlantic and Alcorn State and a win over North Carolina Central.

Southern is scheduled to visit Florida A&M next, while Texas Southern will host Grambling. Southern also has upcoming games against Bethune-Cookman, Alcorn State and Grambling. Texas Southern has upcoming games against Alabama State, Alabama A&M and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Tigers’ win came after Southern had won two of its first three games of the season and Texas Southern had dropped two straight contests.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Texas Southern 55, Southern 31. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Texas Southern with a 78.6 percent probability to win.