SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 41, Austin Peay 21
@UT Martin 33, Eastern Kentucky 3
@#2 Jacksonville State 47, #22 Eastern Illinois 14
@Murray State 38, #25 Tennessee State 31
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 41, AUSTIN PEAY 21
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Will Young rushed for a career-high 154 yards and a touchdown, and Jesse Hosket threw for 230 yards and a touchdown to lead Southeast Missouri (3-5, 3-2) to a 41-21 victory over Austin Peay (0-8, 0-6) Saturday.
SEMO established new season-highs in points, total yards and rushing yards, and had no turnovers en route to pushing its record to 2-1 at Houck Stadium.
The Redhawks dressed in their special pink up jerseys to support cancer awareness. Each player's jersey honored the names of cancer survivors and those who have lost their battles with cancer.
SEMO's offensive line paved the way for a season-best 276 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
The Redhawks scored the first 17 points of the game when Ryan McCrum kicked a 23-yard field goal, Chase Abbington caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Hosket and Tremane McCullough hit paydirt on a 22-yard run.
SEMO, after shutting out APSU in the first half, added 21 third-quarter points in a wild period that saw both teams combine for a total of 35. Javaughn Criag ripped off a 70-yard run when he ran to his left on a read option and coasted to the end zone with 12:37 remaining. After SEMO answered with a 16-yard touchdown run by McCullough, Kente Williams ran for a 68-yard score to narrow the Redhawks lead to 24-14 at the 4:54 mark.
On the ensuing kickoff, Cameron Sanders dashed 93 yards for a touchdown to extend SEMO's lead to 31-14 and the Redhawks never turned back. Sanders returned a kickoff for a touchdown for the second time in his career and holds the school's longest and fourth-longest kick returns for TDs. A 7-yard run by Young and 30-yard field goal by McCrum rounded out SEMO's scoring in the win.
Hosket completed 20-of-24 passes and threw for over 200 yards for the sixth time in seven starts. Young averaged 9.6 yards per carry on 16 attempts and picked up his fourth 100-yard game of the season. McCullough added 92 rushing yards, a pair of touchdowns and caught six passes for 37 yards. He was one of nine different SEMO receivers with a reception.
The Redhawks piled up 515 yards of total offense. It was the first time SEMO finished a game with over 500 total yards since Nov. 15, 2014 (531, vs. Austin Peay).
Defensively, Chad Meredith and Roper Garrett led the SEMO with nine and eight tackles, respectively. Omar Pierre-Louis recovered a fumble, while Zach Hall and John Popovich each recorded a sack, as well. In addition, Ryan Moore went over 100 tackles in his career.
Criag rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown and Gunner Scholato turned in a game-high 18 tackles to lead APSU.
UT MARTIN 33, EASTERN KENTUCKY 3
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin football team dazzled fans on both sides of the ball before coming away with a dominating 33-3 victory over Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (5-4, 4-1 OVC) dominated from start to finish in the contest, allowing just three points – ranking as the fewest points allowed against an OVC foe since shutting out Tennessee State (37-0) on Nov. 13, 2010. Along with the low scoring output, Eastern Kentucky was held to a season-low 229 yards of total offense. Conversely, the Skyhawks proved up to the task on both sides of the ball, tallying 509 yards of total offense – including 364 rushing yards – while notching a defensive touchdown and a blocked field goal to leave their mark in every facet of the game.
Highlighting the offensive side of the ball was UT Martin’s potent ground attack which notched a season-best 364 rushing yards – ranking as the highest single-game output since tallying 404 at Murray State on Nov. 1, 2014. After missing the past two games, senior Ladevin Fair returned to action and left his fingerprints throughout the boxscore by tallying career highs with 25 carries, 181 rushing yards and two touchdowns. On top of his potent ground attack, Fair totaled 207 yards of total offense with 26 yards receiving while throwing one pass for a 33-yard touchdown. Joining in the ground attack was sophomore Jaimiee Bowe who tallied 20 carries for 92 yards, just missing out on his third 100-yard rushing performance of the season.
Junior quarterback Troy Cook manned an efficient offense, completing 8-of-15 passes for 112 yards while tallying 57 yards rushing. Senior Ben Axline led the receiving core with two catches for 48 yards while sophomore CJ McElrath made the most of his single catch on the afternoon, tallying his second touchdown of the season.
For as dominant as UT Martin was on offense, the team’s defense was equally or more impressive. The Skyhawks allowed just three points on the day, with the team’s lone points allowed coming on a drive which started within the Colonels redzone. Junior safety Kahlid Hagens paced the team in tackles for the fifth time this season with his fourth double-digit tackle performance of 11. The defensive trio of Mike Turner (1.0), Caleb Counce (0.5) and Keith Jones (0.5) each got to the quarterback for sacks while the unit tallied six tackles for loss as a whole. The Skyhawks made the most of its lone forced turnover of the day as James Gilleylen returned an interception for the Skyhawks fourth touchdown of the season.
Eastern Kentucky would get on the board to start the game after forcing a key fumble deep in UT Martin’s territory. Taquad Evans would tally a strip sack before jumping on the loose ball for a recovery, giving the Colonels opening field position on the Skyhawk 19. Already in the redzone, the Colonels would move ball down to the one-yard line before the Skyhawks came up stiff at the goal line. Facing fourth and goal from the three, Eastern Kentucky would turn to Lucas Williams who kicked a 20-yard field goal to take an early advantage.
UT Martin would take its first lead of the game and never look back on the team’s third drive of the contest. The Skyhawks would hit the ground attack hard as Bowe broke loose for a 16-yard carry to tally a first down. Later on the drive when facing third down, Fair would notch a first down before ripping a 40-yard carry up the middle to flip the field and move the Skyhawks inside the redzone. A quarterback keeper by Cook would tally 11 yards to set up first and goal before Fair capped off the drive with an eight-yard touchdown to put the Skyhawks on top.
The Skyhawks would look to pad its advantage in the final minutes of the first quarter before ultimately finding the endzone in the second. Cook would look to move the ball through the air, finding Fair for a 17-yard completion before checking down to find Axline for a 16-yard reception. With the ball near midfield, Bowe would tally an 18-yard carry to move into EKU territory to end the first quarter. With a new quarter on the board, the Skyhawks would turn to a trick play to make a statement as Fair took a carry to the right side before looking downfield and tossing a 33-yard touchdown to tight end CJ McElrath.
With just a minute left in the first half, Eastern Kentucky looked for a final push down the field. After taking over possession following an interception of their own, the Colonels would give the ball right back on their first play from scrimmage. With the ball on the EKU 12, Swafford would be intercepted by Gilleylen who returned the interception nine yards for a touchdown. The interception marked the second of his career and fourth interception returned for a touchdown by the Skyhawks this season. Following the pick-six, the Skyhawks would take a 21-3 lead into the break.
The second half would begin with Eastern Kentucky taking the opening drive. The Colonels would move the ball down the field and into the redzone following a 49-yard completion from Swafford to Devin Borders. Despite moving inside the redzone once again, the Colonels would be forced to kick a 33-yard field goal which would be blocked by a leaping Tae Martin to stall the offensive drive.
Following the big stop, UT Martin would begin its next scoring drive on the team’s own 20. After consecutive rush attempts to start the drive, Cook would find senior Kyle Kerrick for a 20-yard completion to move the Skyhawks towards midfield. A personal foul would move the Skyhawks just outside of the redzone before Fair broke loose once again for a 26-yard touchdown, his second of the game to give the Skyhawks a 27-3 advantage.
The Skyhawks would put the finishing touches on the contest with a long final drive which totaled 13 play, 70 yards and ate up over eight minutes of play. Looking to milk the clock, the Skyhawks would turn to the ground attack for all 13 plays highlighted by seven rushes by Fair which totaled 43 yards and moved the Skyhawks inside the redzone. With the Skyhawks within striking distance, the squad would turn the reigns over to Terrance Hollingsworth who completed the drive with a three-yard touchdown for his first career touchdown.
#2 JACKSONVILLE STATE 47, #22 EASTERN ILLINOIS 14
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The first FCS selection committee rankings will be released next week, and Jacksonville State solidified a case for the top spot with its performance against No. 22 Eastern Illinois.
The second-ranked Gamecocks shook off offensive cobwebs from the previous week and rolled to a 47-14 win before a homecoming crowd of 21,655 at Burgess-Snow Field on Saturday. Jacksonville State improved to 7-1 and 4-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with its 21st straight league victory.
Roc Thomas rushed for 115 yards after missing the previous two games with an injury as JSU posted its biggest margin of victory in series history.
Josh Clemons added a pair of touchdown runs and Eli Jenkins passed for two more scores. Jenkins accounted for 242 total yards to move into second place on the OVC's career total offense list.
The Gamecocks' offense, which failed to produce a touchdown in a 24-7 win at Eastern Kentucky the previous week, had no such issues against the Panthers.
JSU led 21-0 after nine minutes and stretched its cushion to 31-7 by halftime. Jacksonville State wasted no time in putting the game out of reach.
Monty Young sacked EIU quarterback Mitch Kimble and Justin Thomas-Thornton recovered at the Panthers 6 on the game's first series. Clemons ran in from the one-yard line to give Jacksonville State a 7-0 lead with 12:26 left in the first quarter.
Jenkins added an 11-yard TD run and tossed a 13-yard touchdown to Josh Barge to stretch the lead to 21-0 with 5:54 remaining in the first.
Freshman Jamari Hester hauled in his first career touchdown – a 27-yarder from Jenkins – to extend the Gamecocks' lead to 28-7 early in the second. Cade Stinnett later nailed a 32-yard field goal as JSU built its lead to 31-7 at intermission.
Clemons' second touchdown run and Stinnett's career-long 48-yard field goal helped Jacksonville State carry a comfortable 40-7 lead into the final quarter.
Backup quarterback Bryant Horn found the end zone midway through the fourth with an 11-yard run to cap off a 13-play, 73-yard march that consumed almost eight minutes. It was the first career touchdown for the sophomore from Alex City.
Safety Marlon Bridges recorded nine tackles, including six solo stops, to lead the Gamecocks. The redshirt freshman from Lannett also forced a fumble in the third quarter and is now tied for the FCS lead in that category with five.
MURRAY STATE 38, #25 TENNESSEE STATE 31
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - KD Humphries threw five touchdown passes to four different receivers as Murray State held off Tennessee State 38-31 in an Ohio Valley Conference battle Saturday.
Humphries found Jordan Gandy for a 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Humphries completed 27 of 35 attempts for 398 yards. Jesse Blackburn had eight catches for 132 yards. Demetric Johnson caught a pair of touchdown passes, including a 52-yard strike in the first quarter and a 39-yarder in the third. Tyre Gray caught a 25-yard strike for a TD and Malik Golson pulled in a 6-yard scoring toss.
The Tigers finished with 555 total yards, 98 more than the Racers (3-5, 3-2).
Ronald Butler threw for 329 yards to lead Tennessee State (5-3, 2-2), completing 27 of 41 attempts. Butler had three touchdown passes but was also picked off twice, and added 109 yards rushing on 13 attempts.