SATURDAY'S SCORES
#19 Sam Houston State 37,
@#2 Jacksonville State 26
#19 SAM HOUSTON STATE 37, #2 JACKSONVILLE STATE 26
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - There will not be a return trip to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs for Jacksonville State.
Sam Houston State held No. 3 JSU scoreless in the second half Saturday afternoon to claim a 37-26 victory in a second-round FCS playoff game at Burgess-Snow Field. The Gamecocks concluded their first season under head coach John Grass with a 10-2 record.
Quarterback Jared Johnson threw three touchdowns and ran for another as the Bearkats (10-4) overcame a 26-24 halftime deficit. The sophomore finished with 246 total yards (161 passing, 85 rushing).
"We knew Sam Houston State was a well-coached and very talented football team. We knew it was going to be a war," said Grass. "They just made a few more plays than we did.
"Our guys played extremely hard (and) played the game physical. We did not play a bad game. At times we played extremely well today."
The win over its former Southland Conference foe propels Sam Houston into the quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of the Liberty-Villanova matchup.
The Gamecocks, who had allowed just six touchdowns in 21 previous quarters, gave up 24 points in the first half, but carried a two-point lead to the locker room on Connor Rouleau's 42-yard field goal as time expired.
Jacksonville State piled up 351 total yards in the first half against a Bearkat defense that was giving up 406.7 per game. The Gamecocks surpassed that total with seven minutes left in the third quarter.
Jacksonville State, however, managed just over 100 yards the rest of the game.
"There wasn't a lot of changes going on (at halftime)," said Sam Houston State coach K.C. Keeler. "We talked about we needed to go tackle and put them on the ground and get them out of bounds.
"They made some big plays early in the game and it rattled our guys, but we kept on playing."
The host Gamecocks struck quickly, taking the opening kickoff and covering 70 yards in five plays for their first lead.
Eli Jenkins connected with Josh Barge for 40 yards on the game's fourth play to the Sam Houston 1. Senior running back DaMarcus James scored on the next play and Rouleau's extra point made it 7-0 with 13:35 left in the first quarter.
James' 49th career rushing touchdown eclipsed the school record previously held by David Gulledge (1987-90).
Johnson answered with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keshawn Hill to tie it at 7-7.
The teams traded scores the rest of the half, with SHSU taking a 24-23 lead on Luc Swimberghe's 29-yard field goal with 3:09 left in the second.
Jenkins completed 12-of-24 passes for 253 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Goffigan in the first quarter. He also rushed 18 times for 115 yards, accounting for 368 yards total.
DeMarcus James gained 128 yards on 19 carries and finishes his Gamecock career with 3,554 yards, second place all-time behind Boyce Callahan (4,237 yards).