SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 31, Tennessee Tech 3
Eastern Illinois 27, @Murray State 24 (2OT)
@#3 Jacksonville State 41, Eastern Kentucky 25
Austin Peay 21, @Tennessee State 17
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 31, TENNESSEE TECH 3
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Cameron Sanders ran for 102 yards and the defense had three takeaways to lead Southeast Missouri (2-4, 2-1) to a dominating 31-3 victory over Tennessee Tech (0-7, 0-4) on homecoming at Houck Field Saturday.
A refreshed SEMO team, which entered the game off its bye week, picked up its second-straight win and first on homecoming since 2014.
SEMO set the tone early, holding TTU to -5 yards on its opening drive. On the first play following the Golden Eagles punt, Jesse Hosket threw a 41-yard completion downfield to Kristian Wilkerson to give the Redhawks a first-and-Goal at the TTU 8 yard line.
Three plays later, Hosket threw a 9-yard third down touchdown to Eric Williams to put SEMO ahead, 7-0, with 9:27 left to play in the first quarter. For Williams, it was the first touchdown of his career.
On the next TTU drive, Zach Hall sacked Adam Browner for a loss of 15 yards and forced a fumble on the play. Bryson Donnell recovered at the Golden Eagles 6-yard line.
SEMO faced third-and-Goal again, this time with Hosket completing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Billington with 8:17 on the clock.
A 22-yard field goal by Nicholas Litang completed a 17-point first quarter for the Redhawks.
TTU's only points of the game came via a 37-yard field goal with 2:07 in the second quarter as the Golden Eagles trailed, 17-3, at the half.
SEMO tacked on 14 more points in the fourth quarter on two big plays.
Hosket hooked up with Wilkerson for a 47-yard strike at the 14:15 mark and Sanders ripped off a 70-yard touchdown run with 7:04 remaining to put the exclamation point on the 31-3 win.
Sanders ran for over 100 yards for the first time in his career. He averaged 14.6 yards on seven carries. His rushing touchdown was his second of 70 or more yards this season.
Hosket, after not throwing a touchdown pass in his previous two starts, completed 13-of-27 passes for 161 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Wilkerson finished with seven catches for 109 yards, going over 100 receiving yards for the second time in three games.
Defensively, Omar Pierre-Louis had both of SEMO's interceptions, including one where he narrowly stayed in-bounds along the near sideline. Rico McWilliams tallied seven tackles, while Hall, Mike Ford and Chad Meredith followed with six apiece. Kendall Donnerson recorded the Redhawks other sack.
Browner, TTU's backup quarterback, threw for 95 yards and Yeede Thaenrat ran for 55 to lead a Golden Eagle offense that had 195 total yards. Starting quarterback Andrew Sale did not make the trip with his team.
SEMO gained 334 yards for the day, including 173 on the ground. The Redhawks also established a single-season high in points scored and gave up their fewest points in a game this year.
Redhawk punter Jake Reynolds averaged 45.9 yards per punt with a long of 78. Reynolds' 78-yard punt was the fourth-longest in school history.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 27, MURRAY STATE 24 (2OT)
MURRAY, Ky. - Terrell Greer stepped through the line in the second overtime period and picked up Eastern Illinois fourth blocked kick of the season as the Panthers won 27-24 in double overtime on Saturday afternoon at Murray State.
EIU improved to 5-2 on the season, 4-0 in the OVC as the Panthers have won all five games this season by a field goal or less. It was the Panthers second double overtime win this season after beating Tennessee State, 19-16, two weeks ago in Nashville. Murray State fell to 2-5, 1-2 in the OVC.
EIU scored in both overtime periods with Matt Severino field goals of 22 and 27 yards. MSU scored in the first overtime period on a Gabriel Vincente 36-yard field goal but had his 38-yard attempt in the second overtime period blocked for the game winner for EIU.
Murray State moved the ball down the field on the Racers opening drive taking a 7-0 lead with 10:35 to play in the first half after quarterback Shuler Bentley raced up the middle on a third and short yardage situation. Bentley’s 29-yard score was the Racers second opening drive score this season.
The Panthers found some offensive rhythm in the second half with the ground game of Isaiah Johnson. The junior college transfer rushed for 109 of his 232 yards in the opening half. Johnson’s total was the eighth highest single game rushing total for EIU in school history. Johnson added a 4-yard touchdown to push the lead to 21-7 with 9:03 to play in the third quarter.
Darshon McCullough evened the score for the Panthers midway through the second quarter on a 4-yard run around the end with 7:01 to play. McCullough fell just shy of the century mark rushing for 94 yards as EIU had 351 rushing yards on the day compared to just 58 for the Racers.
Murray State had a chance to once again take the lead late in the second quarter but missed on a 48-yard field goal attempt with 3:11 to play. After a change of possession for both teams EIU would execute its two-minute offense with Bud Martin hitting Alexander Hollins with 12 seconds left in the half to give EIU a 14-7 lead at the break.
EIU would have a chance to increase its lead to 24-7 in the third quarter but missed on a field goal attempt. That miss gave the Racers some momentum as the game headed to the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter the Racers made it a one score game after Bentley hit Jordon Gandy on a 59-yard pass with 9:51 to play. Bentley would tie the game with 4:06 to play as he connected with D.J. Penick from 15-yards out. Bentley passed for 332 yards while Gandy had ten catches for 193 yards.
EIU would make one final drive in regulation but missed on a field goal attempt to end the game.
Bradley Dewberry would lead the Panthers defense with eight tackles. A trio of MSU players had ten tackles in the game.
#3 JACKSONVILLE STATE 41, EASTERN KENTUCKY 25
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Step aside, Eastern Kentucky. The Ohio Valley Conference record for consecutive league wins now belongs to Jacksonville State.
The third-ranked Gamecocks defeated Eastern Kentucky 41-25 on Saturday at Burgess-Snow Field, improving to 5-1 and 3-0 in the OVC. The win was Jacksonville State's 27th in a row against OVC foes, eclipsing the record previously set by EKU from 1992-95.
Jacksonville State's last OVC loss was on Nov. 16, 2013, at Eastern Illinois. Since then, the Gamecocks are 36-0 against non-FBS competition in regular-season games.
Bryant Horn threw for 158 yards and ran for a team-high 73 more as the Gamecocks beat the Colonels (1-5, 1-3) for the fifth straight time before a crowd of 18,045. Horn had touchdown runs of 13 and four yards and threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Hester while leading Jacksonville State's offense on three scoring drives of at least 80 yards.
Jacksonville State did not have a turnover, the first time in six games without at least one.
The Gamecocks led by 28 at intermission – their biggest halftime advantage since leading 41-10 against Sam Houston State in the 2015 national semifinals – as Horn directed three scoring drives and Marlon Bridges returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown.
De'Marcus Flowers returned EKU's opening kickoff 66 yards to give JSU excellent field position, and Horn wasted little time getting the offense into the end zone.
The Gamecocks needed only four plays with Horn scoring from the 13 on a quarterback option with 13:32 left in the first quarter. Cade Stinnett tacked on the PAT for a 7-0 lead.
Siran Neal came up with a key interception in the end zone – the first of four turnovers forced by the Gamecocks – to turn away an early Colonels' threat. JSU responded by marching 80 yards in six plays, with Roc Thomas completing the drive with a 12-yard TD run at the 3:15 mark in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
Stinnett's 24-yard field goal at the 9:57 mark in the second quarter stretched Jacksonville State's lead to 17-0.
Horn's 31-yard touchdown pass to Hester with 1:12 to go before halftime capped a 93-yard, nine-play drive, JSU's longest since a 96-yard march against Eastern Kentucky in 2015. Horn completed five passes on the drive as the Gamecocks went ahead 24-3.
Jacksonville State, which returned three interceptions for touchdowns at Eastern Kentucky last year, added another defensive TD in the waning seconds of the half.
Bridges stepped in front of an Eastern Kentucky pass and returned it 73 yards down the sideline with 41 seconds left in the second quarter. Stinnett kicked the extra point for a 31-3 Gamecocks' lead at halftime.
Stinnett added a 46-yard field goal in the third quarter and Horn ran in from the 4 early in the fourth to complete JSU's scoring.
Eastern Kentucky had two fourth-quarter touchdowns against the Gamecock reserves.
Bridges recorded a game-high tackles to lead Jacksonville State defensively. All-American Darius Jackson was credited with three tackles for loss (seven total), marking the ninth consecutive game he's recorded at least one TFL.
AUSTIN PEAY 21, TENNESSEE STATE 17
NASHVILLE - After a heart-rending loss to Tennessee State on a last-second play a year ago, the only possible way to exorcise those demons was to stand tall and fend off the Tigers in the exact same scenario this season.
And that's exactly what Austin Peay State University football did Saturday night in Ohio Valley Conference play at Nissan Stadium, making a late score stand up in a 21-17 victory—Austin Peay's first against Tennessee State since 2011.
The Governors capitalized on short field to strike the contests first blow. After yet another strip-sack by sophomore Jaison Williams—his third in as many weeks—was recovered by Nate Howard deep in Tennessee State territory, the Govs quickly marched 20 yards in five plays. Sophomore Kentel Williams secured the game's first touchdown on a three-yard rush—his season's first score on the ground.
The Tigers first score also came on a short field, albeit without the help of an Austin Peay turnover. After a Tigers punt was downed at the Austin Peay one-yard line and the Governors subsequent punt put Tennessee State on the Austin Peay 28, the Tigers were able to march inside the APSU 15-yard line. A timely sack by freshman Kordell Jackson on third-and-nine forced a Tigers field goal, which Coby Weiss, subbing for injured All-OVC kicker Lane Clark, converted from 39 yards out to make it 7-3.
Jackson and the Governors defensive backs weren't only making their presence felt in the opposing backfield; they conspired to hold preseason OVC Offensive Player of the Year Patrick Smith without a catch on three first-half targets.
Twice in the second quarter, the Tigers marched into Tennessee State territory. The first time, Weiss' 47-yard field goal missed wide to the left; on the second, which chewed up most of the final 6:22 of the second quarter, Weiss missed again, this time wide right, and the Govs took a 7-3 lead into halftime.
Austin Peay opened the second half the same way it opened the first—with a touchdown. A 10-play, 60-yard drive—helped by back-to-back first-down tosses from Jeremiah Oatsvall to Gorel Soumare and Kyran Moore, as well as a 14-yard toss to Moore on third-and-seven—was capped by a one-yard plunge by Prince Momodu to make it a two-score game.
After being blanketed all game by a relentless Austin Peay secondary, Smith found a different way to affect the contest. On fourth-and-goal from the Austin Peay two after an eight-play, 42-yard drive, the Tigers used some trickery—an offset line at the top of the formation, two receivers at the bottom, with Smith and Weiss in the backfield and long-snapper Thomas Newberg over the ball. Instead of moving into field-goal formation, Smith called for the snap and lofted a pass to Newberg in the end zone for a TSU score.
The Tigers took the lead early in the fourth quarter after Michael Hughes hit a streaking Devon Johnson for a 66-yard touchdown pass—longest by an Austin Peay opponent this season.
After the teams traded three-and-outs, Austin Peay got the ball back with good field position after Kyran Moore picked up the punted ball on the APSU 11-yard line, returned it to the 30 and added another 15 yards after Tennessee State was whistled for a horse-collar tackle. The Govs drove into Tiger territory, but stalled. A fourth-and-three attempt came up just short and Tennessee State took over on downs.
Again the Govs forced a three-and-out, and again Tennessee State elected to punt directly to Moore. This return Moore broke for 35 yards—a season-long by a Governor—to set the Govs up at midfield with just under three minutes remaining in the contest.
An Ahmaad Tanner rush for seven yards on third-and-four set up the game's pivotal moment. On the ensuing first down, Oatsvall rolled right and saw nothing but green ahead. He scampered 34 yards, down to the Tigers two-yard line. Tanner punched it in to give the Govs a 21-17 lead with 1:26 to go in the fourth quarter.
Governor fans had been here before—last season, the Govs led Tennessee State with 1:05 to go before the Tigers scored a last-second, last-gasp touchdown to deal Austin Peay its most crushing blow of the 2016 campaign.
Not this time.
Although Tennessee State gained first downs on a Hughes' fourth-down scramble and a middle-of-the-field completion to Smith—who finished with one catch for nine yards—a crucial false start penalty followed by an illegal hands to the face call pushed the Tigers back deep into their own territory.
Williams would end it as he began it for the Govs, taking down Hughes on the game's final play for a game-ending sack.