SATURDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 31, @Eastern Kentucky 24
@Murray State 31, Tennessee Tech 21
@Tennessee State 23, Southeast Missouri 20
#2 Jacksonville State 14, @UT Martin 7
AUSTIN PEAY 31, EASTERN KENTUCKY 24
RICHMOND, Ky. - Trailing 24-7 in the third quarter, the Austin Peay State University football team rallied back with 24 unanswered points to down Eastern Kentucky 31-24, Saturday at Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond, Ky.
A heroic effort from both the offense and defense paced the relentless Governors, as their march towards an NCAA at-large playoff bid continues with the win.
Eastern Kentucky opened the scoring with a 10-play 54 yard drive all the way down to the Austin Peay three-yard line. The Governors defense held the Colonels out of the endzone and forced a 21-yard field goal by Lucas Williams to put EKU on top 3-0.
The Colonels followed their opening drive with a 7-play, 35-yard march that was capped off by a nine-yard strike from the Ohio Valley Conference passing leader Tim Boyle to his favorite target Ryan Markush. EKU successfully converted a two-point conversion to take an 11-0 lead into the second quarter.
EKU tacked on a 31-yard field goal to go up 14-0, which was followed by the Governors best offensive drive of the half. Jeremiah Oatsvall picked up a pair of first downs on the ground before connecting on a 41-yard pass to senior Kyran Moore. Ahmaad Tanner punched it in two plays later to trim the Colonel lead to 14-7.
Just before the half, the home squad went into their two-minute offense and picked up their second touchdown of the game. Boyle again found Markush to give EKU a 21-7 lead at the half.
The second stanza started with the Governors moving the ball close to midfield before coming up short on third down. Oatsvall was set for his patented pooch punt, but a closing Colonel defender was able to bring down the APSU quarterback giving EKU prime field position. The Austin Peay defense was up to the challenge limiting the damage from the Colonels to just three points. The last points that EKU would score on the day leading 24-7.
On the following possession, Oatsvall hooked up with Moore one more time. That was a 59-yard strike as Moore sprinted past the Colonel defense for the score to trim the margin to 24-14.
The fourth quarter was all Governors, starting with another bullet pass from Oastvall. This one connected with Montgomery capping off an eight-play, 91-yard drive bringing the visiting team within one score, 24-21.
The rejuvenated APSU defense returned to form following the score. Jaison Williams was all over EKU quarterback Boyle, recording hurries on consecutive plays. Gunnar Scholato got in on the action barreling through the Colonel offensive line for a big-time sack forcing EKU to punt it away.
An unlikely hero was the story of the next drive, as the Governors offense stalled with 5:22 left in the game in EKU territory. Freshman kicker Cole Phillips drilled a career-high 42 yard field goal to tie the contest 24-24. It was just Phillips' second attempt on the season, both of which resulted in three points for the Govs. After tying the game and as they had done the entire second half, the Austin Peay defensive unit tore through the embattled offensive line of Eastern Kentucky en route to another stop, handing the ball back to Oatsvall and the offense.
His knack for the big moment was evident once again, as Oatsvall calmly drove his squad down the field for the game-winning score. Oatsvall tallied 26 yards on the ground in the final drive, including his eight-yard scamper into paydirt for the winning touchdown.
Oatsvall finished with 307 yards of total offense (209 passing, 98 rushing) and three total touchdowns. Tanner followed up his career-high 105-yard performance last week with 91 yards on the ground against the Colonels. Moore finished with two, big catches for 100 yards and a score.
Scholato and Malik Davis each finished with 10 tackles. Williams closed with three hurries, while Shaun Whittinghill picked up two.
The victory sealed the Governors first winning season since 2007. It also locked up a perfect 4-0 record on the road in OVC play and kept APSU right in the thick of the NCAA Playoff race.
MURRAY STATE 31, TENNESSEE TECH 21
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State football team put up over 400 yards of total offense Saturday and scored four touchdowns to top Tennessee Tech Saturday in MSU's final game at Roy Stewart Stadium this season.
Down 7-3 at the end of the first quarter, the Racers used a 62-yard pass from Shuler Bentley to Jordon Gandy and a 48-yard run from D.J. Penick to jump out to a 17-7 lead at the break. Penick and Gandy scored again in the third quarter, building a lead that proved insurmountable for Tennessee Tech and giving the Racers their third win of the season.
The Racers limited Tennessee Tech to just 94 yards rushing and 201 yards of total offense in the game, both of which were season lows for MSU against a Division I opponent. Luke Ward was 19-of-39 passing for Tennessee Tech with one interception and three touchdowns, while Dontez Byrd caught 12 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Three players led TTU with seven tackles while Andrew Swicegood led the Golden Eagles with 2.0 tackles and 1.0 sacks.
Murray State racked up 401 yards of total offense Saturday, including 167 yards rushing, both of which were season-highs against a FBS or FCS opponent. Shuler Bentley completed 23-of-39 passes for two touchdowns and 234 yards in the game with no interceptions.
Jordon Gandy hauled in eight passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns Saturday propelling him up the Racer all-time receiving charts. He is now third all-time in touchdowns with 23, fifth in 100-plus yard games with seven and eighth in total yards with 1,933. In addition his touchdown reception from Shuler Bentley in the first quarter of 62 yards was the longest of the season for the Racers. He finished the game averaging 20.0 yards per catch with three catches of 20 yards or more.
Freshman D.J. Penick ran wild Saturday for a career-high 139 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns. The true freshman averaged 7.3 yards per carry in the game and broke off the Racers' longest run of the season in the first quarter for 48 yards, which ended in a touchdown.
Marico Paige led Murray State's defense Saturday with a game-high 11 tackles and a career-high four quarterback hurries in addition to 0.5 tackles-for-loss for one yard. Paige played a key role in holding the Golden Eagles to just 3-of-16 on third down conversions and 1-of-5 on fourth down conversions by having one hurry on third down and two drive-stopping tackles on fourth down.
Murray State added to its tally of turnovers gained on the season Saturday with two fumble recoveries and an interception for a total of 28 on the year. The first was a muffed punt reception by Tech that was recovered by DeQuan Dallas in the third quarter, followed just minutes later by an interception from Marquez Sanford. In the final minutes of the game, Kenney Wooten recorded his second sack of the game and knocked the ball loose, which was recovered by Troy-Wayne Quinn.
TENNESSEE STATE 23, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 20
NASHVILLE - In the final home game of the season, Tennessee State earned a 23-20 victory over Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon in hale Stadium.
Vincent Sellers blocked a punt with under five minutes to play to set up the game winning scoring drive. Lane Clark connected on his third field goal of the day, a 44 yarder, with just over two minutes on the clock to propel the Tigers to their sixth win of the season.
Sellers secured the win as he broke up a pass on a fourth down attempt, giving TSU the ball back with a minute left in the contest.
Michael Hughes went for 196 passing yards, hitting Steven Newbold for five passes totalling 153 yards on the day. Mahlon Medley caught a 28-yard touchdown pass, while senior fullback Terence Harris had the first touch of his career, resulting in a nine-yard Tiger touchdown.
TSU's nationally-ranked defense allowed only 83 passing yards from the Redhawks, improving upon its 156.0 season average. LaQuarius Cook and Chris Collins tied for a team-high nine tackles.
#2 JACKSONVILLE STATE 14, UT MARTIN 7
MARTIN, Tenn. - No. 2 Jacksonville State wrapped up a fourth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference title Saturday afternoon, but had to withstand one of the toughest battles of its remarkable 31-game league win streak.
Roc Thomas scored two first-half touchdowns and the Gamecock defense limited UT Martin to 179 total yards as Jacksonville State secured the OVC's automatic berth in the FCS playoff with a hard-fought 14-7 victory at Hardy M. Graham Stadium. The outcome wasn't decided until JSU linebacker Joseph Roberts pounced on a Skyhawks fumble with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The 14 points scored by the Gamecocks (9-1, 7-0) marked their lowest output against FCS competition this season and marked the first one-score OVC game they'd been involved in since beating Southeast Missouri 17-10 last year.
Jacksonville State had 289 total yards, including 197 on the ground with quarterback Bryant Horn leading the way with 86 on 15 carries. Tramel Terry added 61 yards while Thomas had 52 yards on 14 rushes before exiting early in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
"I'm proud of this team for getting us right where we want to be at the end of the season," Grass said. "Proud of all the guys who've come before them to make this four in a row happen. It's pretty special when you look back at it. But right now, we don't have time to look back at it – we have to get ready for Tennessee State."
UT Martin (5-5, 3-4) made things interesting in the waning moments when Mike Turner blocked Cade Stinnett's 18-yard field goal attempt after the Gamecocks drove to the Skyhawks one-yard line with a late time-consuming drive.
UT Martin's last-ditch effort ended when quarterback Dresser Winn was sacked and fumbled and Roberts fell on it.
Two kneel-downs by Horn ran the remaining time off the clock as the Gamecocks became the fourth OVC team to win fourth consecutive league titles.
Thomas plunged in from the one-yard line on the Gamecocks' second possession to finish off an eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Stinnett's extra point gave JSU a 7-0 lead at the 3:21 mark in the first quarter.
A sack of Winn and short UTM punt set up the Gamecocks' second touchdown just before halftime.
Horn connected with tight end Trae Barry for 22 yards on third-and-six and Thomas finished things one play later, scoring on a 14-yard run with 48 seconds left before halftime. Stinnett's second PAT made it 14-0.
Marlon Bridges and Quan Stoudemire each were credited with eight tackles to lead JSU's stout defensive effort. The Gamecocks sacked Winn four times and recorded 11 tackles for loss, with senior Darius Jackson getting 2.5, giving him 58 for his career - third-most among all active FCS players.
Jackson established a school record for TFLs in a season and now has 20.5, passing the mark (18.0) he previously held along with Chris Landrum.