SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 21, Eastern Illinois 20
#10 Jacksonville State 37, @UT Martin 20
Murray State 36, @Tennessee Tech 31
Austin Peay 49, @Southeast Missouri 42 (2OT)
TENNESSEE STATE 21, EASTERN ILLINOIS 20
NASHVILLE - Tennessee State rode the leg of kicker Antonio Zita to claim its first win of the 2021 spring season. Zita connected on three field goals, including the game winner at the end of regulation, to give TSU a 21-20 victory at Hale Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Zita finished the day 3-of-4 on field goals, as each topped the other. The junior put the Tigers on the board with a career long 51 yarder late in the first quarter. The next attempt did not go his way, missing wide left on a 38 yard attempt in the second.
The Fayetteville, Tenn. product would come back late in the fourth quarter attempting to give TSU its first lead of the season. Zita would give the Tigers an 18-17 lead with 4:10 remaining in the game on a school record and Ohio Valley Conference tying 62 yard field goal. The boot is the second longest distance in FCS history and the longest since a 63 yard field goal by South Florida's Bill Gramatica in 2000.
After EIU responded with a field goal to go ahead 20-18 with 41 seconds remaining in the contest, Isaiah Green hit Cam Wyche for a 48 yard pass play to the EIU 19 setting up another opportunity for Zita.
Two plays later, the kicker sealed the comeback with a 35 yarder as time expired, giving TSU the win.
Green finished the game 21-of-32 for 257 yards. Wyche led all receivers with six receptions for 125 yards.
Kenyon Andrews had a team high eight tackles and seven solos.
Davoan Hawkins added seven stops, 3.5 for loss, including 1.5 sacks.
#10 JACKSONVILLE STATE 37, UT MARTIN 20
MARTIN, Tenn. - Zion Webb passed for three touchdowns as No. 10 Jacksonville State overcame an early deficit to defeat UT Martin 37-20 at Hardy M. Graham Stadium for its FCS-best sixth straight victory.
The Gamecocks (6-1, 3-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference) beat the Skyhawks for the 10th time in 11 games in what was likely the final meeting between the programs as Jacksonville State joins the ASUN Conference on July 1.
UT Martin (1-2, 1-2) stunned Jacksonville State by jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, the largest deficit the Gamecocks faced since the Mercer game on Oct. 10. But JSU overcame 109 yards in penalties to build a 20-10 lead by halftime and never allowed the Skyhawks to get within 10 points the rest of the afternoon.
Webb threw three touchdown passes for the second week in a row, becoming the first Jacksonville State quarterback since Zerrick Cooper pulled off the feat in the final two games of the 2019 campaign.
Webb had touchdown passes to Dave Russell III, Ahmad Edwards and Mike Pettway while completing 11-of-20 passes without an interception. Russell caught five passes for 107 yards, a season-high total that surpassed Trae Barry's 104-yard performance at North Alabama in October.
Jacksonville State scored 27 unanswered points after spotting UTM an early lead and head coach John Grass liked the way his squad faced down adversity.
Josh Samuel had a four-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and Uriah West finished off the scoring with a five-yard run around Webb's three TD passes and a 25-yard field goal by Alen Karajic.
UT Martin was limited to 29 rushing yards on 20 carries, the first time the Gamecocks defense limited an opponent to fewer than 50 yards on the ground since Murray State in 2018.
The final minute of the first half featured a bizarre special teams play seldom seen by press box observers.
Karajic's line-drive kickoff following Edwards' touchdown catch struck a UT Martin player up front directly in the facemask, bounced toward the Skyhawks' end zone and was recovered by the freshman kicker at JSU's 14. The Gamecocks ran out the remaining time in the second quarter after the unique onside kick recovery to carry a 20-10 lead to the locker room.
Karajic was credited with his first career fumble recovery.
MURRAY STATE 36, TENNESSEE TECH 31
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A late touchdown by LaMartez Brooks and a Davontae McKee interception with just over a minute to play helped lift the Murray State football team past Tennessee Tech, 36-31, Sunday at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville, Tennessee.
The Racer defense was at it again on Sunday, forcing four turnovers on the afternoon. In addition to McKee’s interception, the Racers also got a forced fumble from Jarad McCray that was recovered by Eric Samuta. Samuta got the defense going in the first when he came up with the first of two pick-sixes of the day in the first quarter and went 75 yards for the touchdown. In the third quarter, Quinaz Turner came up with his own interception return going 82 yards for a score.
After a 55-yard field goal by Aaron Baum and Turner’s interception return, the Racers led 30-10 with 4:30 to play in the third quarter. However, from that point, the Golden Eagles reeled off 21 unanswered points capped by a 39-yard punt return from Jyron Gilmore to give Tennessee Tech its first lead of the game at 31-30 with 5:03 left to play in the fourth.
The Racers, however, responded with a five-play, 65-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard pass from Preston Rice to LaMartez Brooks to put the Racers back on top, 36-31, with 2:36 to go in regulation. On the ensuing TTU possession, McKee halted any chance of a Tennessee Tech comeback when he picked off Golden Eagle quarterback Willie Miller with just over a minute left in the game. After two timeouts by TTU, Damonta Witherspoon sealed the game for MSU with an eight-yard run to put the game out of reach.
Rice finished the game at 17-for-26 for 177 yards and a touchdown, while Witherspoon finished with 39 yards and two touchdowns. Brooks also had a huge game in which he caught 10 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Alec Long and Jarad McCray led the Racers with 12 and 10 tackles, respectively. Samuta finished the game with seven tackles, an interception and 1.5 tackles-for-loss, while Marvin Pierre had six tackles, a sack, two quarterback hurries and forced fumble.
AUSTIN PEAY 49, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 42 (2OT)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Austin Peay State University football pulled out another heart-stopper in a visit to Houck Stadium to take on Southeast Missouri, toppling the Redhawks 49-42 in a double-overtime affair thanks to record-breaking performances by Baniko Harley and Draylen Ellis and a host of outstanding performances up and down the roster.
After a week off, the Govs make it back-to-back wins on either side of the bye week and move to 2-1 in league play. Southeast Missouri has now lost back-to-back home games to drop to 1-2 in the league.
Fortune favored the Govs early. The teams traded punts to start the contest, and Shabari Davis appeared to have returned Austin Peay's first punt for a touchdown but a flag near midfield indicated a Southeast Missouri block in the back to take the score off the board.
If special teams didn't give Southeast Missouri its first score, it certainly contributed to Austin Peay's. Following the return touchdown that wasn't, the Govs forced a Redhawk punt that Kordell Jackson blocked, giving the Govs the ball on Southeast Missouri's 41-yard line.
That was all the Govs and Brian Snead needed. On the first play of the next drive, Snead bounced outside, broke a tackle and raced to the end zone, marking his second consecutive game that his first touch of the day yielded a score.
Austin Peay's second scoring drive was more measured. After the first of Elijah Culp's two interceptions on the day, the Govs found themselves on the march near midfield. Two Snead carries for nine and 15 yards were supplemented by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Southeast Missouri to bring the Govs in sight of the goalline. On third and goal, Ellis dropped back and placed a perfect back-shoulder ball to a single-covered Harley on a fade to make it 13-0 Govs.
After Southeast Missouri forced an Austin Peay punt early in the second quarter, the Redhawks finally pieced together a sustained march, converting three third downs and adding a fourth conversion via penalty. On the 13th play of the drive, Andrew Bunch rolled right and hit Colby Cornett for 19 yards to get Southeast Missouri on the board and make it 13-7 Govs.
Austin Peay responded quickly. Four plays into the ensuing drive, Ellis dropped back and lofted a bomb to Jay Parker, and the diminutive dynamo ran under it and outraced the defense 71 yards for his first career score.
A double-dose of misfortune befell the Governors late in the half. A nine-play Southeast Missouri drive following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that gave the Redhawks premium field position brought the hosts within a score after a three-yard Geno Hess touchdown run. That was the first bit of bad news.
The second ended the ensuing drive for the Govs. On third down, Ellis dropped back and threw high to Brandon Lanier, who bobbled the bobble trying to make the catch and went to the turf. If the ball hit Lanier's arm or the turf is a matter of some debate, but the video review proved inconclusive and Southeast Missouri's Bydarrius Knighten was awarded an interception on the Austin Peay 19. Three plays later, Bunch punched it in and the PAT put the Redhawks in front for the first time.
The second half began with an extended exchange of punts, to the point where neither side managed to make much purchase into the others territory during the third quarter. But the Govs broke through early in the fourth quarter, parlaying an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Southeast Missouri into a 28-yard Ellis-to-Eugene Minter strike to take the lead; the Govs converted the two-point conversion to make it a 28-21 game with 14:41 to play.
As quickly as the Govs retook the lead, Southeast Missouri tied it up. A quick-strike, eight-play drive that ate just 2:16 off the clock ended when Hess gallivanted into the end zone for his second score of the day; the extra point tied it back up at 28.
The ensuing drive defined the game for the Govs. Austin Peay methodically marched down the field. Snead moved the chains. Ellis hit Minter for seven yards on third-and-five. Faced with fourth down and five from the 12-yard line, Scotty Walden never wavered; he kept his freshman signal-caller on the field and the result was one of the biggest plays of either's still-brief Austin Peay career: Ellis hit Harley for a go-ahead score with 7:44 to play.
The Redhawks began the game-tying march. Chipping away at the turf, Southeast Missouri ground out a 21-play, 75-yard drive that took most of the rest of regulation off the clock and ended with a five-yard plunge by Hess with 23 seconds to play.
Four quarters weren't enough. Extra football was on the horizon.
Southeast Missouri got the ball to start the half and it took Hess two plays to find the end zone for the fourth time, this time from two yards out. Governors ball, down seven. Highest of stakes.
Draylen Ellis seems not to be your typical freshman. On first down in overtime, the unflappable frosh checked down to Snead for seven yards, then stepped into a throw and found Harley, again, from 18 yards. Tie game; to a second overtime we would go, for the first time since 2007… in Cape Girardeau, against these very same Redhawks.
This time it was Governor ball first, and Austin Peay wasted no time pressing the issue. Seeing no season to deviate from a plan that had worked so well, Ellis found Harley on third and seven from the 22-yard line for a score—his record-tying fourth of the game, to pair well with Ellis' school record sixth touchdown toss.
Not a bad day at the ballyard for that duo, but the Govs still needed a stop to head home with a win.
The defense got into the backfield and downed Hess twice to set up a fourth-and-long situation; despite an offsides penalty, the game came down a fourth-and-four that saw Bunch attempt to reconnect with Cornett, but the ball hit the turf and pandemonium ensued on the Austin Peay sideline to celebrate Walden's first road win as a Gov.
It was a total team effort for the Govs in this one. Ellis threw for 262 and the aforementioned six scores; Harley had eight catches overall, four in the end zone, and Snead toted the rock 25 times for 138 yards. Culp picked off a pair of passes, broke up another pass and made six tackles overall, while Jack McDonald once more led the way with 13 stops.