SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 24, Eastern Illinois 17
UT Martin 38, @Eastern Kentucky 28
@#20 Jacksonville State 31, Tennessee State 23
@#23 Southeast Missouri 43, Tennessee Tech 37 (2OT)
MURRAY STATE 24, EASTERN ILLINOIS 17
MURRAY, Ky. - After a sluggish first half, the Murray State football team put the hammer down in the second half of Saturday’s game against Eastern Illinois at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky. The Racers rushed for 95 yards and threw for an additional 123 in the second stanza to grind out 15 points and the eventual 24-17 win.
In a game filled with big moments, none was perhaps bigger than Cortez Roberts stop of DeWayne Cooks, Jr. inside the Racer one-yard line as time expired to seal the win for the Racers.
Murray State got out to a hot 9-0 start in the game with a first quarter touchdown from Preston Rice to Armani Hayes, followed by a safety from TJ Warren. However, with a field goal late in the third quarter, Eastern Illinois took a 10-9 lead that forced the Racers to play catchup.
Catch up, they did though, as they scored 15 points on touchdowns from James Sappington and LaMartez Brooks and a two-point conversion, also from Sappington. The Panthers did score in the fourth and thought they had a chance to tie or win the game at the end, but Cooks fell short of the goal line, as did EIU’s shot at the victory.
Preston Rice completed 19 of 29 passes Saturday for 274 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, while DaQuon Greeen led all receivers with four catches for 71 yards. The running back tandem of D’Andre McMillian and Jared McCray combined for 91 yards with McMillian racking up 51 yards on six carries and McCray rushing the ball 10 times for 40 yards.
Defensively, Anthony Koclanakis had another monster game for the Racers with 14 tackles including 1.0 for a loss of two yards. Kendrick Catis followed Koclanakis with a big outing of his own with 12 tackles including a game-high eight solo stops, 1.0 tackle-for-loss and a pass breakup.
Perhaps no player had a bigger day than Warren though, as he recorded a safety, five tackles and 2.0 tackle-for-loss for a total of eight yards. In addition, the senior called a fake punt from the field in the fourth quarter on fourth-and-nine from his own 34-yard line and rushed for 30 yards giving the Racers a first down on a drive that resulted in a touchdown.
UT MARTIN 38, EASTERN KENTUCKY 28
RICHMOND, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin football team went on the road and picked up the program’s third win at Eastern Kentucky, posting a 38-28 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Skyhawks (3-2, 2-0 OVC) commanded the ground attack, tallying a season-high 234 rushing yards while scoring three touchdowns. On the flip side, UT Martin would limit Eastern Kentucky’s offense which averaged 243.8 rushing yards per game to just 96 yards on 40 carries.
In a back and forth contest which saw both teams eclipsed 400 yards of total offense and combine for 66 total points, the Skyhawks put the finishing touches on the contest with a pair of forced turnovers. After EKU took an early advantage, UT Martin scored 17 unanswered points. From there the Colonels would charge back to eventually take the lead before finding big plays in the second half to put the game away.
The game marked the second straight game in which the Skyhawks held their opponent to less than 100 rushing yards. The win also marked the third win at Roy Kidd Stadium in program history, winning three of the last four road meetings.
Quarterback John Bachus III managed a good game, completing 15-of-21 passes for 167 yards. Junior receiver Donnell Williams tallied four receptions for 58 yards.
Running back Peyton Logan tallied his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season with 13 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown, his fifth of the season. Joining in the action was Lamarcus Young who tallied his first career rushing touchdown on a 41-yard carry while Jaimiee Bowe tallied his 19th career touchdown.
Defensively, junior Takeem Young paced the squad with seven tackles while the duo of JaQuez Akins and DaVonte Maura recorded seven tackles each. The Skyhawks would tally four sacks in the contest from Cecil Cherry, Austin Pickett, Joseph Murry and D’Carrious Stephens. Pickett would lead the team with two tackles for loss, including a strip-sack in the third quarter which TJ Jefferson returned 44 yards for a touchdown.
#20 JACKSONVILLE STATE 31, TENNESSEE STATE 23
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (AP) - Zerrick Cooper threw three touchdown passes and Jacksonville State rallied to beat Tennessee State, 31-23 in an Ohio Valley Conference contest Saturday night.
The Gamecocks (4-2, 1-1) staked Tennessee State to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter.
Chris Rowland ran 48 yards for the opening touchdown less than two minutes into the game and his brother, Seth Rowland, followed him into the end zone minutes later from 27 yards out. Antonio Zita kicked a 19-yard field goal with 4:27 left in the first period to extend the lead and added field goals from 29 and 34 yards to complete the Tigers scoring.
Cooper hit Pearson from 20-yards out to cut the Tennessee State lead to a touchdown, and after Zita's second field goal, hit K.J. Stepherson from 42 yards out to make it a 20-17 game at intermission. Cooper found Pearson again with 2:43 left in the third quarter to put the Gamecocks on top, 24-23. Michael Matthews put the game away with a 10-yard scoring run with 7:18 left in the game.
Cooper was 25 of 39 passing for 305 yards and Pearson had seven catches for 87 yards.
Cameron Rosendahl was 14 of 24 f or 240 yards for Tennessee State (1-5, 0-2).
#23 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 43, TENNESSEE TECH 37 (2OT)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (3-2, 1-0) scored the final 13 points to beat Tennessee Tech (4-2, 1-1), 43-37, in a dramatic double overtime affair Saturday night at Houck Field.
Tied, 30-30, after TTU's Haidar Zaidan kicked a 51-yard field goal, the Golden Eagles pulled ahead by seven on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Bailey Fisher to Andrew Goldsmith during TTU's first possession of overtime.
Mark Robinson answered with a 16-yard touchdown run to force a second overtime period.
After TTU elected to go on defense, Zion Custis broke free for a 13-yard touchdown run to put SEMO ahead, 43-37. Kendrick Tiller then missed his second extra point.
The Redhawk defense, which was remarkable all night, came up a huge stop to put SEMO's Ohio Valley Conference opening win on ice. SEMO dropped Fisher for a loss of three yards. After that, Fisher threw three incompletions.
Early on, the teams combined for three turnovers in a quick stretch of 83 seconds. DJ Freeman intercepted Fisher's pass on the first drive of the game.
On the fourth play of SEMO's opening possession, Adam Swayze picked off Daniel Santacaterina in TTU's end zone. The Redhawks, however, got the ball right back when Derrick Calhoun hit David Gist on the ensuing play. Gist fumbled and Ryan Ochoa recovered at the TTU 20-yard line.
SEMO capitalized on its fumble recovery by scoring the game's first points on a 2-yard touchdown run by Robinson.
The Golden Eagles responded by scoring the next 17 points to take a 27-20 advantage.
Fisher hit paydirt on a 5-yard run at the 9:23 mark of the third quarter to break the 20-20 halftime score.
Tiller's 35-yard field goal and a 1-yard touchdown run by Geno Hess gave SEMO a 30-27 edge.
Kristian Wilkerson caught five passes for 124 yards en route to breaking SEMO's all-time career record in receiving yardage. Wilkerson, who recorded his eighth career 100-yard receiving game, surpassed Willie Ponder for the new mark. He now has 2,623 receiving yards.
Custis ran for over 100 yards for the first time in his college career. He ran the ball 18 times for 117 yards and scored the game's final touchdown.
SEMO finished with 393 yards of total offense, including 221 on the ground.
Fisher completed 26-of-54 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 68 yards and another score to lead the Golden Eagles. Fleming also had nine catches for 108 yards.
TTU racked up 421 total yards.
Defensively, Derrick Calhoun posted a game and career-high 12 tackles and forced a fumble to top the Redhawks. DJ Freeman added six tackles, a sack, one interception and two pass breakups, as well.