EASTERN KENTUCKY 31, UT MARTIN 28
Eastern Kentucky’s Taylor Long kicked a 39-yard field goal with one second left on the clock and the visiting Colonels (5-5/4-3 OVC) grabbed a 31-28 Ohio Valley Conference victory over the Skyhawks. The loss put an end to the Skyhawks’ eight-game winning streak.
Eastern Kentucky’s Matt Schoborg blocked an Adam Ivey punt with 34 seconds remaining in the game and the Colonels took over at the Skyhawks’ 23 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Long came on for his career-long 39 yarder on second down and 10 yards to go.
The Skyhawks did get one second to pull out a miracle, but Eastern Kentucky recovered the onside kick for the win.
Turnovers hurt the Skyhawks through the game. In all, the Skyhawks committed four turnovers, they had one fumble and had three interceptions. Add two blocked punts to the total and it was a disappointing afternoon.
Eastern Kentucky only scored once as a result of a Skyhawk turnover, while the Skyhawks were able to score as a result of three EKU turnovers.
Two of those three Skyhawk scores came in the first quarter. Junior tailback Don Chapman scored both touchdowns. He scored on a 3-yard run and then with a 20-yard run.
Chapman finished the day with two touchdowns and 171 yards on 31 carries. Chapman went over the 1,000-yard mark for the third consecutive year with his effort against Eastern Kentucky. Chapman will enter the Murray State game with 1,098 rushing yards this season and 3,578 career rushing yards.
With Chapman’s two first-quarter scores, the Skyhawks led 14-7 going into the second quarter. Eastern Kentucky tied the game with 4:35 to play in the first half when Bobby Washington scored the first of his two touchdowns in the game on a 3-yard run.
Josh Chapman broke the 14-all tie early in the third quarter with a 13-yard run for paydirt. But Washington knotted the game at 21-all with 1:30 to play in the third quarter when he scored on a 14-yard run. Washington finished the day with 119 yards on 22 carries.
The Skyhawks broke the 21-21 tie with 9:41 to go in the game when quarterback Greg Preston scored on a 1-yard run.
Senior David Gilmore set up Preston’s TD run when he picked off EKU’s Allan Holland and turned up field for 27 yards. The Skyhawk offense set up shop at the EKU 15 yard line and seven plays later Preston went over the top for the score.
Gilmore finished the day with six tackles, four solo tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, the interception and the pass breakup.
EKU tied the game on its next possession by going 76 yards on eight plays. Josh Greco tossed a 1-yard pass to Patrick Bugg for the touchdown.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 55, SAMFORD 7
Matt Hardin passed for 218 yards with two touchdowns and Clay Green rushed for 110 yards and two more touchdowns as Jacksonville State (6-4, 5-2 OVC) cruised to a 55-7 win over Samford (3-8, 1-8) in an Ohio Valley Conference game Saturday afternoon.
It was the biggest margin of victory in the series and the seventh straight win by Jacksonville State over Samford.
The Gamecocks rolled up 489 yards of total offense, including 294 yards in the second half, while the JSU defense limited the Bulldogs to just 79 second half yards of total offense.
The Gamecocks set the tone early after Craig Agee intercepted Samford’s Dontae Williams’ first pass of the game and returned it 17 yards to give Jax State a 7-0 lead with 14:30 left in the first quarter.
Jax State added two more touchdowns, a 42-yard pass from Hardin to James Wilkerson and a 7-yard pass to Josh Moten as the Gamecocks built a 21-0 lead after the first quarter. Wilkerson finished the game with his second 100-yard receiving game with 114 yards on three receptions.
Gavin Hallford kicked a 32-yard field goal with 6:37 left to push the JSU lead to 24-0 with 6:37 left, but Samford answered by scoring its only touchdown of the day on a 41-yard run by Marcus Rice to cut the lead to 24-7. Hallford added a 29-yard field goal as Jax State built a 27-7 lead at the half.
The Gamecocks came out in the second half and dominated as Clay Green scored two touchdowns during the third quarter to build a 41-7 lead entering the fourth quarter. Shawn Green scored on a two-yard run and Ty Griswold broke free for a 38-yard run in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
Jefferson Adcock finished 11-for-22 for 143 yards to lead Samford, while Jonathan Lowery had three receptions for 72 yards.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 38, TENNESSEE TECH 14
Eastern Illinois picked up a 38-14 win over Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn., on Saturday afternoon.
Tennessee Tech seemed primed for the upset as they scored just 57 seconds into the contest. Anthony Ash broke loose for a 64 yard run that set up a Lee Sweeney 15 yard pass to Brent McNeal giving the Golden Eagles a 7-0 lead. TTU appeared set to keep the Homecoming crowd entertained as their defense forced EIU to punt after four plays.
That would prove to be one of the last bright spots for the Golden Eagles as the EIU defense turned up the pressure and the Panthers offense scored 21 unanswered points. Vincent Webb tied the game at 7-7 with a 5 yard touchdown run on the Panthers second possession with 7:35 left in the first.
Cole Stinson then hit Micah Rucker for a pair of touchdowns the first from 28 yards and the second from 4, giving EIU the 21-7 advantage with 6:51 remaining in the first half. TTU scored a late second quarter touchdown to cut the lead to seven as Sweeney hit Bryon Ottrix on a 31 yard pass play.
The Panthers defense allowed only nine yards in the third quarter and 17 second half yards until the final TTU drive as Eastern Illinois scored 17 more points in the second half. Stinson hit Ryan Voss on a third and 20 play for a 27 yard touchdown with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. Zach Yates hit a 37 yard field goal and Norris Smith added a 15 yard run in the fourth.
EIU forced four turnovers to increase their season total to 30 takeaways. Senior Tristan Burge picked off his first pass of the season while Seymour Loftman had an interception for the third straight game.
Stinson was 19-of-38 through the air for 275 yards and three touchdowns. Rucker had six catches for 99 yards to go along with his two touchdowns while Jermaine Mobley had seven catches for 70 yards. Smith led a balanced EIU rushing attack with 47 yards.
Sweeney finished with 189 yards in the air going 16-for-34. He threw two interceptions and was sacked once. Ash had 107 yards on the ground.
TENNESSEE STATE 31, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
The Tennessee State Tigers kept their Ohio Valley Conference championship hopes alive with a 31-0 victory over Southeast Missouri State on Saturday afternoon at LP Field.
The Big Blue defense led the way forcing two fumbles and an interception and held the Redhawks to 133 total yards. The shutout was the first since a 45-0 victory over Howard in 2001 and it was the first OVC shutout since a 76-0 win over UT-Martin in 1998.
Offensively, the Tigers scored on three of their first four possessions to take a 17-0 lead into halftime. Javarris Williams accounted for the two first half touchdowns, while Eric Benson added a 40-yard field goal.
Terrance Wright and quarterback Julian Sample added touchdowns in the second half to close out the scoring. Wright scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter to extend the lead to 24-0.
Sample, who split time with senior Richard Hartman in place of the injured Antonio Heffner, crossed the goal line from one-yard out with 7:51 left in the game.
Hartman finished the game completing 11 of his 16 passes for 152 yards.
Williams led all runners with 78 yards on 19 carries.