Southern beats Texas Southern 31-24

HOUSTON (AP) — LonDres Johnson had a touchdown run and Anthony Balancier scored on an interception return in a 16-second span in the second quarter in Southern's 31-24 victory over Texas Southern on Friday night.

Southern (5-4, 5-2 Southwestern Athletic) scored 21 straight points in a little under five minutes in the second quarter. Dray Joseph began the run with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Lee Doss, Johnson followed with a 1-yard scoring run, and Anthony Balancier returned his interception 10 yards for another score.

Joseph, 16 of 28 for 231 yards, made it 28-10 in the fourth quarter with a 65-yard pass to Randall Mendard. Greg Pittman added a 38-yard field with goal with 2:14 left.

Eric Medina opened the scoring for Texas Southern (2-7, 2-6) late in the first quarter with a 22-yard field goal. Tigers quarterback Homer Causey had a 43-yard touchdown run late in the first half, added an 11-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter, and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dedric Shipman with 1:19 to go.

Causey was 13 of 21 for 154 yards and ran for 128 yards on 14 carries.