SATURDAY'S SCORES
#3 Jacksonville State 30, @Eastern Illinois 14
@Eastern Kentucky 31, UT Martin 21
@Austin Peay 38, Southeast Missouri 31
#3 JACKSONVILLE STATE, EASTERN ILLINOIS 14
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Much like its previous visit to O'Brien Field, it took a while before Jacksonville State managed to pull away from upset-minded Eastern Illinois.
The Gamecocks overcame a five-point halftime deficit to claim a 30-14 victory and take sole possession of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. Jacksonville State (6-1, 4-0) won its fifth in a row and extended the record conference winning streak to 28 straight.
The win did not come easily. The Panthers (5-3, 4-1) led 14-9 at halftime, the first time Jacksonville State had trailed at intermission of an OVC game since its last conference loss to Eastern Illinois on Nov. 16, 2013.
Bryant Horn threw two touchdown passes to Krenwick Sanders in the third quarter as the Gamecocks shook off a sluggish start to post their 37th straight regular-season win against non-FBS opponents.
JSU's defense did its part as well, limiting the Panthers to only 83 scrimmage yards over the final 30 minutes.
Horn was an efficient 15-of-27 for 164 yards and contributed 66 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Tramel Terry led the Gamecocks on the ground with 84 yards. JSU finished with 417 total yards.
Reggie Hall – who missed the previous three games with an ankle injury – started the second-half rally with an interception of EIU quarterback Bud Martin, his second pickoff this season.
The offense then marched 69 yards in seven plays as Horn tossed a 34-yard touchdown to Sanders to give the Gamecocks their first lead, 16-14, with 11:04 left in the third.
EIU struck first late in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead, but Jacksonville State came back with a five-yard touchdown run from Terry to cut the deficit. A two-point conversion attempt failed, however, leaving the Gamecocks trailing 7-6.
The Panthers stretched it to 14-6 midway through the second quarter with a 51-yard touchdown drive. Cade Stinnett drew JSU to within 14-9 with a career-long 50-yard field goal with 23 seconds to go in the first half.
Stinnett had earlier missed a 49-yard kick that hit the upright and bounced away. He attempted a 52-yarder in the third that had plenty of distance with the 15 mph wind at his back, but missed wide left.
Horn's 11-yard TD pass to Sanders with 2:22 remaining in the third pushed Jacksonville State ahead 23-14.
De'Marcus Flowers added the final points with a 20-yard touchdown run for the final 16-point margin of victory.
Marlon Bridges led the Gamecocks defensively with nine tackles.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 31, UT MARTIN 21
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky rushed for a season-high 246 yards and four touchdowns in its 31-21 Homecoming victory over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday afternoon at Roy Kidd Stadium.
Trailing 7-3 at halftime, the Colonels exploded in the second half, running for 142 yards and all of their touchdowns in the final 30 minutes of play.
Three different EKU running backs found pay dirt in the Colonels' dominant second half.
Sophomore Daryl McCleskey Jr. led EKU's dynamic ground attack, turning 22 carries into a career-high 137 yards and a touchdown. Junior Ethan Thomas went for 48 yards and two touchdowns, while sophomore Jason Lewis added 18 yards and a score.
The Skyhawks entered the game leading the conference in rushing defense at 79.3 yards allowed on the ground per game.
EKU's lone score of the first half came early in the first quarter. Senior quarterback Tim Boyle converted a 3rd-and-10 with a 33-yard pass to junior wide receiver Neiko Creamer, setting up the Colonels on the UTM 20-yard line. On the next play, McClesky Jr. busted a 14-yard run around the right edge. Senior kicker Lucas Williams capped the drive with a 25-yard field goal, making it 3-0 with 9:07 remaining in the first stanza.
EKU led 3-0 for most of the first half, until UTM quarterback Dresser Winn found Jaylon Moore down the right sideline for a 67-yard touchdown with 4:50 left until halftime. The score sent the Skyhawks into the locker room at the break up 7-3.
The defense sparked the Colonels in the second half. Early in the third quarter, with UTM pinned deep inside EKU territory, Winn fumbled the ball and sophomore defensive tackle Connor Foos scooped it up at the five-yard line. On the next play, Lewis pounded it into pay dirt to give the Colonels a 10-7 lead with 9:07 on the clock.
UTM's Peyton Logan, however, returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to give the lead right back to the Skyhawks, 14-10.
Eastern responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by Thomas with 4:49 remaining in the third quarter.
UTM muffed the resulting kickoff, and sophomore wideout Matt Clark recovered the ball at the Skyhawks' 29 yard line. Five plays later, Thomas took it in again, this time from six yards out to make it 24-14 with 2:17 left in the third.
EKU continued to pile it on early in the fourth quarter, as the Colonels' first drive of the stanza ended with an eight-yard touchdown scamper to the left pylon by McCleskey Jr., making it 31-14 with 12:40 on the clock.
UT Martin (3-4, 1-3 OVC) cut into the lead with a 24-yard touchdown hookup between Troy Cook and Londell Lee with 6:04 remaining; however, it was too little, too late for the Skyhawks, as the Colonels responded with a 10-play, six-minute drive to the UTM three-yard line that expired the clock.
The visitors began the day first in the Ohio Valley Conference and fifth in the nation in total defense (271 yards per game), but the Eastern offense totaled 331 total yards.
UTM running back Ladarius Galloway entered the game leading the conference and eighth in the nation with 104.8 rushing yards per game. He finished with just 41 yards.
Eastern forced three turnovers and did not give the ball away at all. Jeffrey Canady had a team-best six tackles. Corey Glass finished with five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
AUSTIN PEAY 38, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 31
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - That was the last time the Governors won a Homecoming contest. Heavy emphasis on the “was” part of that phrase, as the Governors vanquished Southeast Missouri, 38-31, at Fortera Stadium, with a quick-strike offense that seemingly had the Redhawks number all night.
A
lthough the offensive outburst was sudden, it was not immediate even after a spectacular special teams play gave the Govs good starting field position on their opening drive. After a Southeast Missouri drive stalled, Daryl Rollins-Davis steamrolled through the Redhawks punt coverage, blocking Jake Reynolds’ punt attempt and recovering it at the 16-yard line. Unfortunately for the Govs, that stroke of good fortune would not pay off, as the offense went three-and-out and the ensuing 31-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
The ensuing Southeast Missouri drive saw the Redhawks go three-and-out, and this time Austin Peay capitalized. On the second play from scrimmage, Rollins-Davis got behind the Southeast Missouri secondary and raced under a perfectly-thrown ball from freshman quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall—making his first collegiate start—for a 52-yard touchdown reception to get the Govs on the board.
Rollins-Davis’ catch was Austin Peay’s first 50-yard play from scrimmage this season which did not involve Kentel Williams, but the sophomore from Knoxville soon got in on the action. After Southeast Missouri evened the score with an 11-play, 69-yard touchdown drive capped by a Jesse Hosket touchdown dive, Williams burst through a huge hole at the line of scrimmage and scampered basically untouched, 74 yards, for a touchdown.
The Governors first two scores came on the second play of each drive; their third score required a tougher slog. Early in the second quarter, the Govs embarked on a 10-play, 63-yard drive, chewing up 5:23. A 35-yard Oatsvall-to-Ahmaad Tanner connection got the drive started, while Oatsvall eluded pressure to hit freshman tight end Elijah Brown for six yards on fourth-and-two to keep the drive going. On third-and-goal from the 10, Oatsvall found DJ Montgomery to put the Govs up 21-7.
The teams traded scoreless possessions for much of the second quarter’s remainder, but Williams wasn’t done yet. The Governors began their final first-half possession with 1:22 remaining, ending it 45 seconds later after Tanner punched it in from the one-yard line for his season’s third score—thanks to a huge 56-yard burst from Williams on the first play from scrimmage. That took the Governors into halftime with a 28-7 advantage.
Austin Peay embarked on another 10-play march to start the third quarter. Oatsvall made things happen through the air—hitting Williams for 19 yards on third-and-nine, Gorel Soumare for 25 yards on third-and-11 and Kyran Moore for 20 yards on third-and-10 to keep the drive alive—before finishing the drive with his feet, dashing 16 yards for his season’s third rushing score.
For the evening, it was the Oatsvall and Williams Show on offense. Williams needed just nine touches to rack up 167 yards total offense, picking up 148 on the ground and another 19 receiving, while Oatsvall—in addition to becoming the first APSU quarterback since Jake Ryan (2009) to win his first career start—finished 13-for-22 with 199 yards and two touchdowns while adding 66 more on 13 carries on the ground.
Southeast Missouri began to push back after the Govs pushed the lead to 35-7, quickly striking back with an eight-play, 61-yard scoring drive (Hosket to Zack Smith for a 34-yard touchdown). Hosket would throw for 246 of his 348 yards in the second half as the Redhawks attempted to mount a furious rally, including two late touchdown passes to Eric Williams (16 yards) and Richie Eisenhart (29). The Govs recovered two onside kicks over the final 2:10 to stave off any hopes the Redhawks harbored for a comeback.