Former Liberty County Panthers running back Roderick Jones scored his first touchdown of this season, helping the Shorter University Hawks to a 30-13 win over Belhaven on Saturday.
According to the university’s athletics website, it was a critical win for the Hawks in the Mid-South West Division.
The victory improved the Hawks’ record to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the division. The game was played at Historic Barron Stadium.
Shorter led, 17-7, when Jones received an option pitch and ran 82 yards along the left sideline for a touchdown.
That gave the Hawks a 23-7 cushion with just under six minutes left in the game.
“We were being bottled up a bit, but coach (Tim) Mathis made a great call to go away from the overset and come back with a misdirection-type option,” Jones told reporters. “I’m just really, really happy today for what our kids did and thankful for the staff that we have.”
Jones finished the game with 113 yards.
The victory helped push the Hawks back into the NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches Poll on Monday, where they took the No. 25 spot.