The kicking Jaguars earned all their goals in the first half.
Mark Buglosa broke the ice, 27 minutes down the game and three minutes later, Jade Paghubasan scored USJ-R's second goal.
Down by 0-2, the Panthers became rough, which saw Boy Cadampog meted with a yellow card at the 33rd.
With USPF getting more disorganized, Paghubasan found another spot to score and succeeded at the 37th.
As the final half unfolded, USPF tried harder, but instead saw another defender, Joy Iway, getting warned at the 63rd.
USJ-R, even with that advantage, was also slapped with a yellow card in Franco Cedullo at the 66th of the game.
USJ-R now takes the lead with their win. They will be sharing the seat with either the University of San Carlos and the University of Cebu, which were still playing as of this writing.
The University of the Visayas, the team which prevented USJ-R from a grandslam finish last year, will start its title defense on Sunday against USP at the USC-TC field.
USJ-R will also be playing on Sunday opposite USC before the UV-USP action.