THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Chattanooga 24,
Eastern Illinois 10
@Murray State 59, Pikeville 20
@Eastern Kentucky 53, Valparaiso 7
@UT Martin 42, Northwestern State 20
@#17 Southeast Missouri 44, Southern Illinois 26
@Southeastern Louisiana,
#6 Jacksonville State
@Austin Peay 41, North Carolina Central 10
CHATTANOOGA 24, EASTERN ILLINOIS 10
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Chattanooga took advantage of an early special teams play to take the lead and the Mocs held Eastern Illinois at bay 24-10 in the season opener for both teams.
EIU returns to action next Saturday at Big Ten member Indiana as the Panthers continue to grind through the sixth toughest schedule in the FCS.
Following two defensive stands by the Panthers, one resulting in an interception by Raymond Crittenden, it was a special teams play that set up the first score of the game.
EIU fumbled a punt which UTC recovered inside the 20-yard line. Nick Tiano was able to plunge over from 1-yard out at the 7:02 mark of the first quarter to put the Mocs up 7-0.
The Panthers offense answered with a long drive of its own as Josh Delgado knocked home a 37-yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
A gamble on fourth down by the Panthers offense would pay off for the first touchdown of the Adam Cushing era. On a fourth-and-four, Johnathan Brantley connected with Nick Stricker on a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-10 with 2:19 left in the first half. Brantley finished the game 13-of-25 passing for 103 yards.
Chattanooga's additional first half points came on a 59-yard strike from Tiano to Bryce Nunnelly with 8:01 to play in the second quarter and a Victor Ulmo 37-yard field goal as time expired making it 17-10 at the half. Tiano was 17-of-27 passing for 256 yards. Nunnelly had six catches for 100 yards.
The Mocs took to the ground to open the second half as they drove the opening kickoff for a 1-yard touchdown by Ailym Ford. UTC finished the day with 94 yards on the ground despite a heavy dose of run plays in the offense with a late two score lead.
EIU had a lengthy drive of its own in the third quarter stalled as the Panthers lost a fumble on a 4th and one play inside the Chattanooga 25. EIU would drive into UTC territory three more times in the fourth quarter and come up short on downs.
EIU's defense stood up most of the day holding the Mocs to two field goal attempts following drives into the red zone. The second field goal was a miss from 36-yards at the 11:16 mark of the fourth quarter with EIU trailing 24-10.
Chattanooga was able to end an EIU drive with just over two minutes remaining as Kameron Brown picked off a tipped pass inside the 20-yard line. Harry Woodbery had come in the lead the Panthers drive hitting Xander Richards on two passes during the drive. Richards finished the day with five catches for 67 yards. The final play of the game was the Panthers having a pass broken-up in the end zone after another Woodbery led drive.
Joe Caputo led the EIU defense with eight tackles. Bryce Dewberry had a third quarter interception as EIU forced two turnovers in the game. Marshall Cooper led Chattanooga with ten tackles.
MURRAY STATE 59, PIKEVILLE 20
MURRAY, Ky. - For the 52nd time in 95 seasons, the Murray State football team opened its annual campaign with a win, beating Pikeville, 59-20, Thursday night at Roy Stewart Stadium.
Pikeville was first on the board in the contest with a 42-yard field goal by Zaniel Phillips less than four minutes into the game. However, the Racers immediately answered with a 95-yard kickoff return by Quinaz Turner and never looked back.
Preston Rice was 20-for-31 in his debut as Murray State's QB1 for 170 yards and two touchdowns. Jacob Bell, Lamartez Brooks, and Brion Sanchious, in his Racer football debut, had each of MSU's receiving touchdowns, while Jared McCray and Rodney Castille each scored twice.
Defensively, Edmond McGhee had five tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble, while Anthony Koclanakis had a game-high six tackles and a sack.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 53, VALPARAISO 7
RICHMOND, Ky. - Daryl McCleskey Jr. got things started with a 64-yard touchdown run, Corey Glass returned a fumble for a touchdown and Alonzo Booth scored twice on the ground in the first half as the Eastern Kentucky University football team opened its season with a 53-7 rout of Valparaiso University on Thursday at Roy Kidd Stadium.
On the fifth play of the game, McCleskey ran around the right side, found a seam and went untouched for 64 yards. Dakota Allen ran in a two-point conversion for an early 8-0 lead.
On the second play of Valparaiso’s first possession, Chris Duncan was sacked by Steven Crowder and fumbled the ball. Corey Glass scooped and scored from 29 yards out. The ensuing point-after made it a 15-0 game.
Booth put the game away with two early second quarter touchdown runs. He capped a 10-play, 76-yard drive with a 10-yard scoring run with 14:53 on the clock. A little over four minutes later he scored from two yards out to finish off a short 27-yard drive. Samuel Hayworth’s extra-point put EKU on top 29-0.
Hayworth added a 31-yard field goal with 4:01 to go before halftime and the Colonels had a 32-0 advantage at the break.
Eastern out-rushed Valparaiso 140 to 14 in the first half and held a 206-47 advantage in total offense.
The Crusaders got on the board with 11:41 to go in the third quarter on a 61-yard pass from Duncan to Ollie Reese. Jason Lewis became the third running back to score for the Colonels when he polished off an 8-play, 68-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 7:41 left in the third.
On the first play of a fourth quarter EKU possession, Booth scored for the third time when he took the ball, ran around the right side and 86 yards to the end zone. The kick made it 46-7 with 9:50 left in the game. Dakota Allen capped the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Alex Cabrera with 2:11 left in the game.
Booth finished the night with 128 yards on seven carries and three touchdowns. McCleskey totaled 70 yards on four touches. Eastern Kentucky held a 333 to 68 advantage on the ground.
Glass had a team-best eight tackles. Aaron Patrick had five tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss and one sack.
Duncan finished 7-of-19 for 116 yards for Valparaiso. Cody Boxrucker rushed for a team-high 45 yards. Jaxon Peifer totaled a game-high 10 tackles for the Crusaders.
UT MARTIN 42, NORTHWESTERN STATE 20
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin football team used a strong second half in every facet of the game to pull away from Northwestern State and secure a 42-20 victory in the season opener at Hardy Graham Stadium on Thursday night.
The Skyhawks (1-0) held the visiting Demons scoreless in the second half and allowed just 166 yards of total offense while posting explosive plays of their own. Junior running back Peyton Logan put the Skyhawks on top with 4:22 in the third quarter and never looked back – scoring touchdowns of 21 and 53 yards in the second half. Sandwiched between the two big scoring runs was a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown by Terry Williams followed by a 78-yard touchdown return by Wanya Moton in the fourth quarter to officially put the game away.
As a whole, UT Martin tallied 309 yards of total offense, scoring touchdowns in every phase of the game. Logan led the team offensive in his first game as the primary back with 13 carries for 149 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 11.5 yards per carry. Meanwhile, redshirt-freshman John Bachus III earned his first career start, completing 8-of-20 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns, including strikes of 39 and 43 yards to Colton Dowell and Jaylon Moore, respectively.
On the defensive side of the ball, senior linebacker TJ Jefferson paced all players with 12 total tackles, including one sack while recording a pair of pass breakups. Fellow senior Sherrod Pittman joined in the action with 11 tackles of his own, including 2.5 tackles for loss. Moton, a redshirt-sophomore, made the most of his day with seven tackles and a pair of interceptions to highlight an impressive season debut.
#17 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 44, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 26
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Daniel Santacaterina threw for 248 yards and a touchdown, and ran for two other scores to lead #17 Southeast Missouri (1-0) to a 44-26 season-opening win over longtime rival Southern Illinois (0-1) Thursday night in front of a raucous crowd of 8,312 at Houck Field.
SEMO started slow and trailed 14-7 before scoring 30-straight points on its way to burying the Salukis for the second-straight season. The Redhawks and Salukis met for the 87thtime in the longest rivalry for both schools.
Down seven with 5:44 remaining in the second quarter, Zion Custis ignited SEMO's scoring surge with a 4-yard touchdown run that ended a four-play, 65-yard drive. Santacaterina completed an 18-yard pass to Aaron Alston and followed that up with a 34-yard completion to Kristian Wilkerson to set up Custis' touchdown.
SEMO managed to get in the end zone once more just before the half when Mark Robinson hit paydirt on a 1-yard plunge with 37 seconds left to put the Redhawks up, 20-14, at the intermission.
After scoring 20 second-quarter points, SEMO tacked on 17 more in the third.
Kendrick Tiller kicked a 22-yard field goal and Santacaterina scored his second rushing touchdown on a 7-yard run. Wilkerson then made a highlight-reel one-handed catch on a 47-yard pass from Santacaterina and made an 18-yard touchdown reception on the next play to widen SEMO's lead to 37-14 with just under two minutes (1:57) in the third quarter.
Geno Hess completed SEMO's scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 10:41 mark in the fourth quarter.
Six different Redhawks scored points as SEMO racked up 529 yards of total offense.
Santacaterina completed 14-of-24 passes and ran for 54 yards to lead the way. Custis (78), Hess (77) and Robinson (72) each added over 70 yards rushing. As a team, SEMO finished with 281 yards on the ground.
Wilkerson caught six passes for 146 yards, going over 100 receiving yards for the fifth time in his career.
Defensively, the reigning FCS National Defensive Player of the Year Zach Hall notched a game-high 19 tackles, including 15 in the first half. Hall went over 300 tackles in his career. He also had two tackles for loss and a sack.
SEMO forced one turnover when Marcus Lucas intercepted a tipped pass by Justin Swift deep in the Redhawks territory during the first quarter.
The Redhawks won the War for the Wheel again and, as a result, the ship's wheel trophy remains in Cape Girardeau.
SEMO improved to 10-19 all-time in season-openers since moving to NCAA Division I in 1991. The Redhawks also won their eighth-straight home game and beat the Salukis in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2001 (24-5) and 2002 (21-14).
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 35, #6 JACKSONVILLE STATE 14
HAMMOND, La. - Costly turnovers and repeated breakdowns across the offensive line proved too much to overcome as Jacksonville State dropped its season-opening game for the second consecutive year.
Southeastern Louisiana (1-0) converted two Zerrick Cooper interceptions into touchdowns to stun the sixth-ranked Gamecocks 35-14 before an announced crowd of 7,116 at Strawberry Stadium Thursday night. It was the Lions' first victory over a Top 10 opponent since beating Sam Houston State in 2013.
Cooper threw for 414 yards – the fourth-highest total in school history – but was sacked six times and forced to scramble out of trouble on several other occasions. The junior quarterback completed 40-of-52 attempts (shattering the previous school mark of 32) with touchdown tosses of 33 yards to Josh Pearson and 28 yards to Michael Matthews to go along with the two picks.
Disaster struck on the Gamecocks' third offensive play of 2019 when SLU's Shawntrez Spates intercepted Cooper's short pass and returned it to the JSU 4. Devonte Williams scored on first down to give the Lions a 7-0 lead.
Southeastern Louisiana stretched its lead to 14-0 by driving 80 yards in nine plays on the next drive. Backup quarterback Cole Kelley, an Arkansas transfer, hit a wide-open Bransen Schwebel with a 5-yard jump pass with 7:06 left in the first.
The Lions went to the locker room with a 21-7 lead at halftime when Williams grabbed a swing pass, picked up a key block from Schwebel and raced 58 yards at the 1:16 mark.
A 65-yard interception return by Ferlando Jordan and a 35-yard TD pass from Kelley to Austin Mitchell extended Southeastern Louisiana's lead to 35-7 early in the fourth. JSU's final points came on an 80-yard drive capped off by Matthews' scoring reception with 8:50 left.
Zack Woodard had a career-best 10 tackles to lead Jacksonville State defensively, including two pass breakups. Darius Joiner contributed seven tackles, three of them solo.
AUSTIN PEAY 41, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 10
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A 24-point second quarter turned a close contest into demolition, and Austin Peay State University football walked away with its first season-opening win since 2010 in a 41-10 romp against North Carolina Central that doubled as Mark Hudspeth's first win as Austin Peay head coach—the first Austin Peay coach to emerge victorious in his debut since 2007.
The first half was the DeAngelo Wilson Show. Somehow, every the Govs got the ball, there went Wilson sprinting through the defense on his way to the end zone. The junior from Bowling Green notched touchdown receptions of 25, 40 and 29 yards—all in the opening 30 minutes—and rolled up all six catches for 106 yards in the first half. Austin Peay's leading returning receiver from 2018 is now the first Gov since… DJ Montgomery, a whole five games ago (Oct. 27, 2018 against Tennessee Tech).
The Govs showed they had plenty in the bag for the opener. All-American Kentel Williams got his touches (12 carries for 139 yards, then an additional four catches for 26 yards)—his 11.6 yards per carry mark on the evening gives him an 8.4 ypc mark over the past 10 games. And if the Govs weren't feeding their All-OVC back, they had trickeration aplenty—Wilson's second touchdown catch of the evening was the result of a Williams-to-Baniko Harley reverse wide receiver pass that saw Harley, the former quarterback, launch a left-handed rocket 40 yards into Wilson's outstretched arms.
Much of this was the result of a line which controlled the point of attack and dictated the momentum when the Govs had the ball. Austin Peay as a team averaged just under six yards per carry and tallied 291 yards on 49 attempts, gouging the Eagle defense for 11 runs of 10 yards or longer.
Add it all up, mix in a defense that surrendered less than two yards per carry and you've got a dominating performance on your hands.
North Carolina Central got on the board first, but they didn't have the lead for long. Less than a minute after taking the ensuing kickoff, junior quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall had engineered a six-play, 59-yard drive that saw him hit Wilson from 25 yards out for six. Following a brief five-play Eagle drive, the Govs had the ball back and embarked on a 10-play march that stretched into the second quarter and saw Logan Birchfield convert a field goal from 27 yards out.
And then the rout was on.
40 yards from Harley to Wilson. Six.
29 yards from Oatsvall to Wilson. Money.
For the sake of variety, an eight-yard fade from Oatsvall to Keenan Barnes for a score that allowed the Govs to enter halftime with a 31-3 lead.
In the second half, Birchfield would nail a career-long 49-yard field goal to get things going and Ahmaad Tanner would plunge in the last of his 12 carries for 66 yards into the end zone for a touchdown to put the Govs up 41-3. A late North Carolina Central score may have dented the final, but not the psyche of the Governors following a successful first foray into 2019.
Oatsvall finished 24-of-39 passing for 232 yards and three scores, and we've barely mentioned him, his supporting cast was so good. In addition to tossing a touchdown pass, Harley caught four passes for 68 yards. Linebacker Pat Walker led the way with seven tackles, including 1.5 for loss—part of a 10-TFL day for the defense. It was quite a party, and we'll do it again next week, 2 p.m., Sept. 7 against Central Arkansas.