SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 21, Murray State 10
UT Martin 24, @Tennessee Tech 0
@Austin Peay 28, Eastern Illinois 13
@Eastern Kentucky 14, Saint Francis 10
MURRAY STATE 21, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 10
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Marquis Terry surpassed 1,000 rushing yards this season and the defense did not give up a positive rushing yard as Southeast Missouri (3-8, 3-5) ended 2017 with a 21-10 victory over Murray State (3-8, 2-5) Saturday at Houck Field.
Start time for SEMO's season finale was delayed 50 minutes due to lightning in the area.
The Redhawk defense then set the tone, holding MSU to -9 rushing yards on 30 attempts. That marked a SEMO record for fewest rushing yards by an opponent in the Redhawks NCAA Division I era.
SEMO's stellar defensive performance also included two double-digit tacklers (Justin Swift, Zach Hall), six sacks, 11 tackles for loss and one takeaway. The Redhawks also stopped the Racers four times on fourth down and held them to just 3-of-17 on third down.
Terry scored the game's first touchdown on a 2-yard run with six minutes left in the first quarter after a Shabari Davis' 37-yard punt return set up the Redhawks at the MSU 2.
Cameron Sanders capped a 6-play, 42-yard march and extended SEMO's lead to 14-0 on a 9-yard run with 26 seconds left to play in the opening period.
Terry broke free for a 34-yard touchdown run, completing the Redhawks longest drive of the day at seven plays for 75 yards. That play widened SEMO's lead to 21-3 with 6:27 remaining in the third quarter.
MSU scored its only touchdown on a 13-yard pass from Cameron Birse to L.J. Gainey at the 3:01 mark of the fourth quarters.
Terry finished with 92 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, averaging 3.8 yards per touch. He concluded the season with 1,076 rushing yards in his first year as a Redhawk.
Defensively, Swift and Hall had 10 tackles apiece. Swift also tallied 2.5 sacks. Kendall Donnerson followed with seven tackles and two sacks. Donnerson recorded back-to-back sacks on the Racers final drive.
Jordon Gandy led MSU with 11 catches for 132 yards.
SEMO has beaten MSU three-straight times, marking the first time in the all-time series the Redhawks downed the Racers three-consecutive seasons.
UT MARTIN 24, TENNESSEE TECH 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin football team closed out the 2017 season with a dominating road performance at Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech, notching the program’s first conference shutout since the 2010 season in a 24-0 victory.
The Skyhawks finish the season with a 6-5 overall mark and 4-4 record in conference play. After posting just two winning seasons in UT Martin’s Division I history prior to head coach Jason Simpson arriving, the Skyhawks notched their ninth in the past 12 years. Additionally, with the victory it marked the 13th consecutive season in which the Skyhawks have finished at least .500 in league play.
UT Martin scored on the team’s second drive of the contest and never looked back down the stretch. While scoring points in the first, second and fourth quarters was key, it was the team’s stingy defense which sealed the victory. UT Martin notched its first shutout victory against an OVC school since Nov. 13, 2010 against Tennessee State. With the shutout, the Skyhawks lowered their Division I program-record scoring defense to just 14.3 points allowed per game – besting the previous mark of 15.7 set in 2006.
As a team, the Skyhawks notched 17 first downs and 389 yards of total offense – including three touchdowns to lead the way. Defensively, UT Martin held Tennessee Tech to just 184 yards – including 55 rushing and 129 passing yards.
Freshman quarterback Dresser Winn led an efficient offense by completing 13-of-22 pass attempts for 210 yards and two touchdowns. Winn also tallied 12 carries for 61 yards and one touchdowns to notch 281 yards of total offense. Running back Ladarius Galloway concluded the game with 44 rushing yards, notching the 10th best single-season rushing performance in program history with 859 rushing yards on the season.
The senior receiving duo of Londell Lee and Caylon Weathers concluded their respective Skyhawk careers with touchdown performances. Lee led the team with four catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Weathers made the most of his two catches for 23 yards and a touchdown. With the touchdown, Weathers moved into a tie for third place on the program’s all-time receiving touchdowns with list 17.
On the other side of the ball, senior safety Joseph Este led all players with a career-high 12 tackle performance. Junior James Gilleylen notched six tackles and two pass breakups while Chris Williams-Hall paced the squad with 2.5 tackles for loss.
The Skyhawks would get on the scoreboard first with a touchdown midway through the first quarter. With the team’s second drive of the quarter beginning on the UTM 36, Winn find receivers Devonte Howard and Galloway to move into Golden Eagle territory. Another big pass play from Winn to wide receiver Londell Lee went for 23 yards to set up first and goal. With the ball on the TTU 4, Winn would hit Caylon Weathers for a four-yard touchdown strike in the corner of the endzone to make it 7-0. With the touchdown reception for Weathers, he notched the 17th score of his career to move into a tie for third place on the program’s career touchdown leaderboard with Dwayne McKinney.
UT Martin would add to its margin in the second quarter. On a scoring drive which saw the Skyhawks begin their drive on the team’s own 27, Winn would hit Galloway for a 69-yard pass completion down the left sideline. With the ball once again within the redzone, the Skyhawks would settle for a 21-yard field goal by Mitch Mersman to make it a 10-0 advantage heading into the break.
The Skyhawks chipped on another touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. On the first drive of the fourth, Winn would hit Howard for an eight-yard completion on fourth and one. With a fresh set of downs, Winn would look to the endzone where he found Lee for a touchdown over the middle for 16 yards.
The final punctuation mark would be placed on the contest with the Skyhawks ensuing drive. After starting the drive in TTU territory, Winn found Lee again for a 20-yard completion to move inside the redzone. Looking to take care of business himself, Winn kept the ball on the following play for a 15-yard scramble into the endzone to make it a 24-0 contest.
AUSTIN PEAY 28, EASTERN ILLINOIS 13
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay capped the regular season with a solid 28-13 defeat of Eastern Illinois to cap a record-breaking regular season, Saturday, at Fortera Stadium.
As they have for most of the season, the Govs didn’t get the job done by spreading it out and throwing the ball around. On a cold, windy, rainy night, the Govs did what they do best. Austin Peay pounded the ball between the tackles with freshman Ahmaad Tanner and got the ball to a cornucopia of athletes in space and let them run wild. Tanner accounted for 95 of the Governors 325 yards on the ground, while three other Govs—Jeremiah Oatsvall (49 yards), Darryl Rollins-Davis (47) and Kyran Moore (40)—picked up big chunks as secondary running options.
Sixty-six rushes, picking up 4.9 per carry, allowed the Govs to dictate tempo and Austin Peay ate up clock all night, wearing down Eastern Illinois’ defense with a 40:27 time of possession mark. Tanner has emerged as the bulldog between the tackles—he bookended the day with touchdowns, scampering in from 22 yards out late in the first quarter to give the Govs their initial lead, and putting the game away with a one-yard plunge early in the first quarter.
Moore grabbed touches all kinds of ways Saturday night; with 10 touches (six rushing, three catches and a kick-return), he ate up a team-high 103 all-purpose yards and burst through for a 10-yard scamper in the second quarter to put some distance between the Govs and Panthers.
And Oatsvall, the precociously talented freshman charged with orchestrating the offense, showed poise under fire. With multiple options each time he rolled out—pitch, pass or keep the ball—the Brentwood native made the right call, all the time. His numbers weren’t eye-popping, but without his leadership and decision-making, who knows where the Govs would be?
When he called his own number, it typically worked out for the Govs. He picked up 4.1 yards on 12 carries and rumbled 26 yards for a touchdown, his third straight game with a rushing score.
When Eastern Illinois got its chances offensively, it was often backed up within the shadow of its own goalpost, and often against a ferocious and—thanks to the offense’s proclivity for long, clock-chewing drives—rested and eager to attack the Panther offense. The Govs forced seven three-and-outs, forced a trio of turnovers and stopped the Panthers twice on fourth down.
And when the Govs got those stops, it often gave the offense excellent field position. Austin Peay’s average starting position was its own 41, including four drives started in EIU territory—those resulted in Oatsvall’s touchdown and Tanner’s second trot into the end zone.
Austin Peay’s opportunistic defense forced a trio of turnovers—a fumble recovery by Theron Hodges led to the Govs first score, while Juantarius Bryant’s third-quarter pick set up Tanner’s final score. And Keawvis Cummings’ interception on Eastern Illinois’ last-gasp final drive sealed the deal for the Govs and touched off another in a season full of celebrations at Fortera Stadium.
The records broken this season will stand for a while. It extended the Governors record of total offense, concluding the regular season with 4,645 yards and gave Austin Peay its first-ever 3,000-yard rushing campaign. The 327 points also were a school record, just in case you didn’t know. And junior Gunnar Scholato made it back-to-back 100-tackle seasons, the first by a Gov since 2000-01 (Drew Wilson).
EASTERN KENTUCKY 14, SAINT FRANCIS 10
RICHMOND, Ky. - Freshman Steven Crowder blocked a punt and Eastern Kentucky turned the short field into the go-ahead touchdown with 9:12 left in the game to pick up a 14-10 victory over Saint Francis in the season finale on Saturday at Roy Kidd Stadium.
After the Red Flash had taken the lead late in the third quarter, EKU forced a three-and-out on SFU's next possession. The visitors were forced to punt from their own 41 yard line. Crowder got his hand on the attempt and the Colonels took over at the Saint Francis 34 yard line.
Eastern gave the ball to LJ Scott of five straight plays and he delivered the go-ahead touchdown. He started it with a 17-yard gain and capped it with a 7-yard run to the end zone. The ensuing extra-point by Lucas Williams put EKU on top 14-10 with 9:12 left to play.
EKU missed on a long field goal with 2:21 on the clock. However, the defense answered the call, stopping Saint Francis on four downs when TJ Comstock intercepted a pass to secure the win.
Eastern Kentucky held SFU to 88 rushing yards and 255 total yards of offense. On Senior Day, senior linebacker Jeffrey Canady contributed 15 tackles, including a sack and broke up a pass.
Scott totaled 41 yards on eight carries and scored one touchdown. Daryl McCleskey Jr. had 39 yards rushing and Ethan Thomas ran for 32 yards. Dan Paul caught three passes for 43 yards.
Bear Fenimore went 11-for-25 for 164 yards for the Red Flash. Byron Johnson ran the ball 20 times for 80 yards.
Saint Francis got on the board first with a wind-aided 44-yard field goal with 13:24 remaining in the second quarter.
Austin Scott engineered a scoring drive midway through the second quarter to put EKU on top. He got it started with a 9-yard completion to Paul before Thomas broke off a 23-yard run to get into Red Flash territory. Scott moved the chains with a third down, 7-yard completion to Neiko Creamer to the Saint Francis 30 yard line. Two plays later, McCleskey hauled in a short pass and turned it into a 26 yard gain to the one yard line. Scott finished it off with a quarterback sneak for the touchdown. The extra-point made it 7-3.
SFU missed on a 28-yard field goal to end the first half.
The Red Flash took the lead late in the third quarter when Fenimore capped off a 13-play, 56-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. The extra-point put the visitors in front 10-7 with seven seconds left in the third.