SATURDAY'S SCORES
@#21 UT Martin 48, Murray State 24
Southeast Missouri 30, @Austin Peay 14
Tennessee Tech 27, @North Carolina Central 16
#21 UT MARTIN 48, MURRAY STATE 24
MARTIN, Tenn. - An eventful week filled with Homecoming activities on the University of Tennessee at Martin campus was capped off by an explosive showing on the gridiron as the No. 21 ranked football team surged pasted Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State in the league opener with a 48-28 triumph at Hardy M. Graham Stadium.
The Skyhawks (4-1, 1-0 OVC) pushed their winning streak to four games with a statement victory over their regional rival. After playing the last two games on the road prior to the team’s bye week, UT Martin responded well to its first home contest in 28 days by scoring on its opening drive and never looking back before eventually scoring 35 unanswered points against the OVC’s top-ranked defense.
By the time the dust settled on Homecoming and the sun began to set on the horizon, the Skyhawks sang the UT Martin fight song with a tone of jubilation which is only replicated following a big win.
UT Martin played at or above its season averages in several categories while setting season-highs in total points (48), rushing yards (266), rushing touchdowns (five), tackles (79), quarterback hurries (five) and interceptions (two). Meanwhile, the Skyhawks limited the Racers to just 325 yards of total offense while forcing two turnover on downs and a pair of interceptions.
One of the top contributors for the Skyhawks came on the shoulders of power running back Zak Wallace. The freshman from Benton, Ark. made the most of his 14 carries by eating up 67 yards and scoring a career-high three rushing touchdowns. His afternoon marked the first three-touchdown rushing performance by a Skyhawk since Abou Toure accomplished the feat back in 2014 against Murray State.
Wallace was not the only player to post a big day as UT Martin scored a total of seven touchdowns – including five on the ground. Graduate quarterback Keon Howard led a high-powered offense by completing 67 percent of his pass attempts (12-of-18) while throwing for 171 yards and one touchdown. The dual-threat quarterback also notched nine carries for 98 yards while scoring his sixth rushing touchdown of the season on a 10-yard scamper.
The day will also serve as a lifelong memory for freshman transfer Jordan Castleberry who punched in his first career touchdown on a six-yard carry in the first quarter.
In the receiving game, junior Colton Dowell hauled in three catches for 86 yards – including a 49-yard reception. With his strong day, Dowell brings his career receiving yards total to 1,731 yards which elevates him to eighth place on the program’s all-time leaderboard by surpassing Deumaine Reeder (1,673 yards). Freshman Zoe Roberts also tallied three receptions – including a two-yard touchdown reception which marked his third in the last two games.
Along with the team’s success on the offensive side, UT Martin had several impressive contributions on the defensive end. Most notably came in the second quarter when freshman Tevin Shipp tallied his first career interception and returned it 47 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown – the team’s first defensive touchdown of the season. The Skyhawks would later tally another interception as graduate John Ford snatched his second interception of the season on the first play of the second half and returned it 17 yards to set up yet another scoring drive.
The safety duo of Takeem Young and Deven Sims led the game with 10 tackles and one pass breakup each. Hard-hitting rover JaQuez Akins and Ford weren’t too far behind with seven tackles each while David DuBose finished with five stops on the afternoon. As a team, the Skyhawks combined for 5.0 tackles for loss split between nine players while Shawn Shamburger paced the squad with two pass breakups.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 30, AUSTIN PEAY 14
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri (2-4, 2-1) had a season-high six takeaways and Geno Hess ran for 116 yards and three touchdowns in a commanding 30-14 win over Austin Peay (2-4, 0-1) Saturday.
SEMO never trailed en route to claiming its first road win of the season.
The Redhawks, who recorded a takeaway in 20-consecutive games dating back to 2019, forced multiple turnovers for the fifth time in six contests this year.
SEMO's defense seized momentum early when it came up with two of those in a quick 1:42 during the first quarter.
APSU return man Baniko Hartley muffed a punt and Jacob Morrissey recovered at the Governors' 12-yard line. Three plays later, Kenny Doak kicked a 27-yard field goal to give the Redhawks a 3-0 advantage.
On the game's ensuing possession, freshman Bryce Norman forced his team-high third fumble of the season when he hit running back Ahmaad Tanner. Austin Carter recovered the ball at the APSU 24.
After completing a 10-yard pass on a third-and-6, CJ Ogbonna hooked up with Johnny King for an 8-yard strike. Doak's extra point was blocked and the Redhawks led, 9-0, with 7:31 to go in the opening period.
The Governors responded with a 12-play, 85-yard drive capped by a 5-yard run by Tanner. Draylen Ellis converted the 2-point conversion with a pass to Harley pulling APSU within a point at 9-8.
SEMO closed out the first half with a nice 16-play, 78-yard march that culminated with a 2-yard touchdown run by Hess. Hess' touchdown came on fourth down and extended the Redhawks lead to 16-8 at the half.
On the second play of APSU's opening drive of the second half, Dony'e Taylor intercepted Ellis and returned his first career pick 39 yards to the Governors' 19. Hess found the end zone for the second time on a 5-yard run to stretch SEMO's lead to 23-8 at the 11:42 mark of the third quarter.
APSU answered quickly less than a minute later when Tanner ripped off a 53-yard run to trim SEMO's lead to 23-14 with 10:43 remaining.
The Redhawks used five-straight third-down conversions to fuel its next scoring drive that consumed 8:44. Hess scored his third rushing touchdown on a 2-yard plunge to polish off the 17-play, 75-yard drive as SEMO pulled ahead, 30-14, with just under two minutes in the third quarter.
Hess carried the ball 28 times and averaged 4.1 yards per touch. He now has nine rushing touchdowns, three shy of his Football Championship Subdivision leading 12 last season. The 100-yard performance marked the sixth of Hess' career and third in 2021.
In his return, Zack Smith paved the way with five receptions for 53 yards. Smith missed the last four games with a foot injury.
Ty Leonard led SEMO's swarming defense with nine tackles and one interception. Cape Girardeau product Taylor added an interception and one fumble recovery, while Brandon Mincey had six tackles and a pick. William McCall, in his first career start turned in eight tackles and Norman finished with six.
The Redhawks started five of their drives inside APSU territory thanks to the outstanding play from their defense.
TENNESSEE TECH 27, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 16
DURHAM, N.C. - It didn't take long for Tennessee Tech to take control of the football game on Saturday against N.C. Central.
The host Eagles attempted to punt the ball away, but Aidan Raines blocked the punt and NC Central recovered the ball on its own 2-yard-line to turn the ball over on downs. A penalty against NCCU moved the ball up a yard to the one, and on the Golden Eagles' first offensive play of the game, Willie Miller pushed forward for a touchdown with 13:32 remaining on the clock in the first stanza.
Tennessee Tech never looked back. The Golden Eagles took their second straight win on Saturday, topping NCCU 27-16.
While David Gist didn't get a rushing score in the game, he did set his career-high in rushing yardage for the second week in a row, picking up 143 yards on 19 carries, averaging 7.5 yards per rush.
Jordan Brown (eight carries for 25 yards) and Miller (eight carries for 24 yards) both had rushing touchdowns. Gist did catch a touchdown pass though as he hauled in two lobs from Miller for 19 yards, including an 18-yard scoring play.
Hayden Olsen completed the scoring with two 46-yard field goals and three PATs for nine total points.
Miller ended the game with 145 passing yards on an 11-for-22 effort, although throwing one interception.
Defensively, Kail Dava and A.J. Hall had solo sacks, while Chris Tucker and Christian Cantrell assisted on another. Seth Carlisle led the Golden Eagles with eight tackles, while Samari Burns had four.
After Tech's first score, NCCU was held to a field goal as Adrian Olivo connected from 34 yards out to make it a 7-3 game at the end of the first quarter. The Golden Eagles extended their lead to 21-3 at the intermission, then the score stayed steady until the fourth quarter home until Andrew Smith caught a 48-yard touchdown strike from Davius Richard. The PAT made it 21-10 with 8:18 remaining in the game.
Tech had two more scoring drives ending with Olsen field goals, but NCCU was able to put one more score on the board with seven seconds remaining in the game as Richard threw a nine-yard strike to the end zone with Devin Smith hauling it in.
Richard threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns on a 32-for-48 day in the rain, completing 10 passes for 81 yards to Ryan McDaniel. Tech held the Eagles to 58 yards on the ground.