MONROE -  Garrett Smith fired a touchdown pass to Marcus Green, then ran for another score as Louisiana Monroe broke open a close game after halftime while defeating Southern 38-21 Saturday night.

Smith hit Green with a 28-yard pass, bumping the Warhawks' lead to 21-12, Craig Ford added a 24-yard field goal and Smith scored from the 13, pushing the lead to 31-15. Smith hit 20 of 33 passes for 208 yards.

The Warhawks (1-0) led 14-12 at the half after Southern's Raul Albuquerque capped a long drive with a 38-yard field goal in the final minute before the break. Albuquerque nailed field goals of 42, 38 and 28 yards but missed a point-after kick in the first half. Southern is 0-1.

Austin Vaughn capped the scoring with a 6-yard run in the final minute of play.