SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Jacksonville State 31, #17 Tennessee State 28 (OT)
UT Martin 27, @Southeast Missouri 17
#23 Eastern Kentucky 42, @Tennessee Tech 28
JACKSONVILLE STATE 31, #17 TENNESSEE STATE 28 (OT)
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - For the second time this season the outcome of a Jacksonville State game rested on right foot on junior placekicker Griffin Thomas.
And for the second time, the junior from Snellville, Ga., delivered in a clutch situation.
Thomas kicked a 44-yard field goal in the first overtime to lift the Gamecocks to a 31-28 win over No. 17 and previously unbeaten Tennessee State before a crowd of 14,867 at Burgess-Snow Field and a national television audience on Saturday.
Head coach Jack Crowe earned his 85th win at Jacksonville State, surpassing Bill Burgess for second place among Gamecock coaches.
Jacksonville State (4-3, 3-2 Ohio Valley Conference) took advantage of costly mistakes by the Tigers in the waning seconds of regulation and on their possession in overtime.
Tennessee State's Jamin Godfrey was lined up for a 42-yard field goal attempt with four seconds in regulation. His kick split the uprights, but TSU was flagged for a false start, pushing the Tigers back five yards. Godfrey instead was forced to try a 47-yarder that fell wide right, sending the game into OT.
TSU (7-1, 3-1) had first possession in overtime and quickly drove to 13 yards to the Gamecocks 12. With his team seemingly in position for a chip-shot field goal, Tigers quarterback Michael German got sacked for a 13-yard loss by JSU defensive end Mikel Whittier on third down.
That brought on Godfrey for another 42-yard attempt, which this time sailed wide left.
Runs by Washaun Ealey then moved Jacksonville State to the TSU 18.
But Coty Blanchard, in the game after starting quarterback Marques Ivory was forced out with a hamstring injury, was sacked for a nine-yard loss to make Thomas' field goal attempt more difficult.
Turned out to be no problem. Thomas, who beat Chattanooga with a 37-yard field goal as time expired on Sept. 8, kicked the 44-yarder with ease to keep the Gamecocks alive in the OVC race.
Tennessee State accumulated 302 first-half yards to take a 21-14 lead at intermission.
The Gamecocks, however, answered with two touchdowns in the third quarter, an 8-yard run by Ealey and a 2-yard scramble by Blanchard that put JSU ahead 28-21 with 3:08 left in the third.
The Tigers drew even again with 9:20 left in the fourth.
German, who threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns, finished off a nine-play, 70-yard scoring march with an 11-yard toss to Travis James. Godfrey's extra point made it 28-all, the third tie of the game.
Tennessee State's final drive in regulation took 14 plays and consumed the final 5:46.
Troymaine Pope – who later left with an injury – gave the Gamecocks a 7-0 lead with a 2-yard TD run on their first drive of the game. His run completed a 46-yard drive set up by freshman cornerback Jermaine Hough's first career interception.
Ealey caught a 44-yard pass from Ivory early in the second quarter and Thomas tacked on the extra point to give JSU a 14-7 lead, the last time it led until Blanchard's scramble for TD late in the third.
Ealey finished with a hard-fought 122 yards on 33 carries and also caught five passes for 82 yards.
But the Tigers scored two touchdowns in a 2:25 span midway through the second quarter – the first a 25-yard pass to James from German, followed by a 42-yard run by Trabis Ware for a 21-14 lead they held onto until halftime.
UT MARTIN 27, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 17
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Senior quarterback Derek Carr and The University of Tennessee at Martin offense was forced back to reality against host Southeast Missouri State, but that was ok as the Skyhawks spoiled the Redhawks homecoming 27-17 Saturday afternoon at Houck Stadium.
Carr, who threw for more than 550 yards and seven touchdowns against Murray State this past week, overcame a slow start against the Redhawks. He completed 22 of 28 passes for with one interception for 156 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for a 1-yard touchdown with 12:50 to play in the first quarter.
The senior quarterback’s consistent effort was matched by the Skyhawk defense who managed to squelch the Redhawks’ time-consuming drives. The Skyhawks forced four turnovers (two fumbles and two interceptions) in the game. Redshirt freshman Marquis Clemons ended the first half by recovering a fumble that led to a field goal and the Skyhawks 17-10 halftime lead.
Clemons intercepted Southeast Missouri State quarterback Scott Lathrop with 24 seconds left in the game.
Despite the four turnovers, Southeast Missouri piled up 414 yards of total offense.
UT Martin had 23 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but the score was deadlocked at 7-7.
Southeast Missouri State took a 10-7 lead with 3:50 to play in the first half when Drew Geldbach kicked a 32 yard field goal.
The Skyhawks took the lead for good when Carr connected with senior Quentin Sims for a 3 yard touchdown pass with 22 seconds left in the half. Clemons recovered the fumble and Sandlin added the field goal to give the Skyhawks a 17-10 lead at the break.
Sandlin added a 35 yard field goal in the third quarter, while senior running back Jason McNair added a 3-yard rushing TD with 1:25 to play in the third quarter. While McNair rushed seven times for 35 yards, senior Tevin Barksdale led the Skyhawks with 11 carries for 107 yards.
Southeast Missouri State added a touchdown in the third quarter, but both teams were scoreless in the fourth quarter.
With the victory the Skyhawks improve to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast Missouri State falls to 2-5 on the year and 1-3 in the league.
#23 EASTERN KENTUCKY 42, TENNESSEE TECH 28
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The No. 23 Eastern Kentucky University Colonels blitzed host Tennessee Tech for 22 straight points in the fourth quarter to earn a 42-28 win Saturday night at Tucker Stadium. With the win, EKU improves to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in OVC action.
The Golden Eagles were looking for their first OVC win and now fall to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in league play.
Tennessee Tech scored 11 seconds into the fourth quarter to take a 28-20 lead, but from that point on Eastern Kentucky controlled the game.
The Colonels responded with a 14-play drive to tally the tying touchdown. Senior Tyrone Goard’s 24-yard catch and fellow senior Matt Denham’s 17-yard run helped the drive along. Junior Deshaun Sands finally found the end zone on a 4th-and-1 play. EKU proceeded to pick up the two-point conversion when Denham scooted around the right side of the line.
Eastern’s defense came away with a turnover three plays later. Facing a 3rd-and-11, senior Justin Bell blitzed off the left side and forced an errant throw from TTU quarterback Tre Lamb. Senior Cejay Ceniza was in perfect position to haul in the interception and returned the ball to the Golden Eagle 27-yard line. Junior wide receiver Ike Ariguzo then made a juggling 28-yard touchdown catch off a perfect pass from senior T.J. Pryor to give the Colonels the lead with 7:01 left, 35-28.
On Tennessee Tech’s next possession, it took just one play for the Eastern Kentucky defense to force another turnover. Junior linebacker Ichiro Vance tipped a TTU pass attempt which landed perfectly in senior Brooklyn Fox’s lap. Fox returned the pick to the home team’s 34-yard line to give the Colonels another golden opportunity for a score.
Senior wide receiver Cameron Bailey cashed in on Tennessee Tech’s mistake when Pryor found him wide open in the end zone for a 38-yard scoring strike. That play put the game away and made the score, 42-28.
Tennessee Tech led throughout much of the first three quarters, mainly on the big pass play. Lamb hit Adam Urbano with a 77-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the game to give Tech a quick 7-0 lead. Midway through the second quarter, Da’Rick Rogers made a highlight-reel 40-yard touchdown grab to put the Golden Eagles ahead at halftime, 21-17.
Eastern Kentucky struggled to find some consistency on offense through the first three quarters before converting 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) third downs in the final period and racking up 163 yards of offense on 26 plays. Meanwhile, Tech managed just seven yards on nine plays for the entire quarter.
Pryor completed 23-of-31 passes for 296 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in the victory. Bailey added two touchdown catches while Denham recorded 104 yards rushing and one score.
Junior defensive lineman Shawn Shupperd and senior linebacker Kevin Hamlin each posted a team-high seven tackles. The Colonel defense held the Golden Eagles to 15 yards rushing for the game on 22 carries.
Lamb threw four touchdown passes for Tennessee Tech, including three to wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers.