BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Austin Howard threw two touchdown passes and ran for another to lead Southern to a 28-21 victory over Alabama State on Saturday night.

Howard’s 9-yard touchdown run gave the Jaguars the lead for good with 9:20 remaining. The Hornets couldn’t answer when three fourth quarter drives stalled in their own territory.

Howard threw an 18-yard TD pass to Willie Quinn, and connected with Reggie Travis for a 23-yard score as Southern took an 18-14 lead with 9:29 to play in the third quarter. Greg Pittman kicked his third, 40-yard field goal to stretch Southern’s lead to seven.

Alabama State (4-5, 3-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference) tied it at 21 early in the fourth quarter when Daniel Duhart connected with Wyndell Archie on a 31-yard touchdown pass.

Southern (6-3, 5-1) has won four straight, but couldn’t gain ground on West Division leader Grambling State, which beat Texas Southern on Saturday night.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.