Macario Dade saw daylight on the right sideline.

The Southern freshman running back with a track and field background detonated from the backfield and went untouched for a 70-yard touchdown in the third quarter of Southern’s 45-17 win over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

Fellow freshman Wydell Clark was as happy as anyone to see the Jaguars' little-used running back have the longest play of the day. Clark and Dade are both products of Ouachita High School in Monroe.

“I seen that,” Clark said. “That was my teammate in high school. So I've been seeing that for the last two years, so I ain't been surprised.”

The same day Dade finished with four carries for 104 yards and a touchdown, Clark also played well. He had a 12-yard jet sweep for a touchdown and a 21-yard receiving touchdown after making a contested catch on an out route and sprinting to the end zone.

“We see it at practice all the time,” coach Marshall Faulk said about Clark. “The ball's finding him. That's the offense in the passing game. The ball finds you, coverage dictates.”

The 5-foot-6, 165-pound Dade's blazing speed on his touchdown run reaffirmed the depth of the Southern running back room.

“We recruited him for that,” Faulk said. “I don't know if you take it serious or not, but we're stacked in the backfield. We have some guys that don't get a chance to play — who play later in the game — they could go somewhere else and play. They could probably be playing somewhere else. But our one, two, three, four guy, I mean, they're exciting, and they all bring something different to the table.”

Injury misfortune

Champ Davis, one of Southern’s promising freshman, appeared to be seriously injured after being tackled awkwardly near the line of scrimmage while running the ball.

He stayed down for an extended period and was eventually lifted off the ground by two people and brought to the sidelines.

Faulk had an idea of what Davis’ injury was but didn’t share his status because he hadn’t spoken to a doctor officially.

“I didn't hear from the doctor, so I'll wait until the doctor informs me of exactly what it is,” he said. “My trainer informed me, gave me an update. But I'll wait for the doctor to give me the diagnosis on what's wrong with him.”

This was Davis’ second game back from a shoulder injury that forced him to miss five straight contests. The 5-10, 195-pound running back has been described as a solid piece of the offense when healthy. He had 13 carries for 62 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s 28-point win over Florida A&M on Halloween.

Joys of success

Ty Lee vividly remembers the disappointment of Southern’s 2-10 season last year.

The redshirt sophomore defensive back, who had 10 tackles on Saturday, said these last two wins have made old and new players alike excited about the program's direction.

“Definitely a blessing, especially being here last year,” Lee said. “You know, didn't have the best season, of course. So just seeing the positives coming out, knowing that even last year it doesn't define you. So it's definitely a blessing.”

Even though Faulk wasn’t coaching the team last year, he said the consecutive wins are “huge” for the morale of the locker room.

Still, star running back Trey Holly said the recent success doesn’t make up for a 41-10 homecoming loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Oct. 3.

“Nah, we can't get that game back,” he said. “We can keep moving forward.”