SUNDAY'S SCORES
#10 Jacksonville State 28, @#16 Murray State 14
Southeast Missouri 46, @Tennessee State 23
@UT Martin 40, Tennessee Tech 7
#10 JACKSONVILLE STATE 28, #16 MURRAY STATE 14
MURRAY, Ky. - The longest season in No. 10 Jacksonville State's storied football history is assured of lasting at least one more week, and hopefully even longer.
The Gamecocks waved goodbye to the Ohio Valley Conference with their ninth league title and secured an FCS playoff berth with a 28-14 win over No. 17 Murray State at Roy Stewart Stadium on Sunday.
Jacksonville State - which has an open date next weekend - will carry a 9-2 record into the postseason after going 6-1 against OVC competition in the spring its last year of membership.
The FCS Football Selection Show will be held Sunday, April 18, at 10:30 a.m. on ESPNU. The playoffs begin on April 24 and Jacksonville State is eligible to host a first-round game.
The Gamecocks rolled up 281 yards in the first two quarters and scored touchdowns on three straight drives covering at least 65 yards. Jacksonville State also benefited from a pair of missed field goals by Racers kicker Aaron Baum, who failed to convert from 43 yards in the first quarter and 38 yards just before halftime.
Senior tight end Trae Barry hauled in a 39-yard toss from Zion Webb as the Gamecocks drove deep into Murray State territory on their second series. Webb scored on an 11-yard scamper on the next play and Alen Karajic tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 8:12 remaining in the first.
The Webb-to-Barry connection staked Jacksonville State a 14-0 lead on the next series. Barry became JSU's all-time leader in career receiving yardage by a tight end with another 39-yard reception down to the Murray State 12, then Pat Jackson ran 11 yards to the Racers 1.
Webb finished off the five-play drive with a 1-yard run and Karajic's PAT made it 14-0 at the 1:39 mark in the first.
Murray State responded with its only points of the half on a 30-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Webb completed four passes on the ensuing drive and got the Gamecocks into the red zone with a 16-yard jaunt early in the second quarter. Josh Samuel ran the last yard to complete the 14-play, 74-yard march and Karajic's kick gave JSU the 21-7 cushion it carried to the locker room at half.
Barry finished with 101 yards on four catches, his first 100-yard game since a 104-yard performance against North Alabama on Oct. 17, 2020.
Webb hit Barry with an 18-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to complete a seven-play, 81-yard scoring drive. It was Webb's 16th touchdown pass of the 2020-21 season.
Webb accounted for 304 scrimmage yards against the Racers. The junior quarterback ran 12 times for 65 yards and threw for 239, completing 17 of 28 passes without an interception.
Nicario Harper and Marshall Clark were Jacksonville State's top tacklers with eight each. Jamias Presley had a fourth-quarter interception to seal the win and also contributed five tackles.
JSU held a 444-373 advantage in total offense and limited Murray State to 26 yards on the ground. It marks the ninth opponent held to less than 100 yards rushing, breaking the season mark set by JSU's defenses in 2016 and 2017.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 46, TENNESSEE STATE 23
NASHVILLE - Geno Hess ran for 87 yards and three touchdowns to lead Southeast Missouri (4-4, 4-3) to a 46-23 win over Tennessee State (2-5, 2-5) Sunday afternoon in its season finale at Hale Stadium.
The Redhawks wrapped up their season on a three-game winning streak behind its season-best 325 rushing yards.
SEMO scored 30 points in the first two quarters en route to a 30-9 halftime advantage.
The Redhawks scored their first points of a game on a safety when Kamden Edwards was dropped in his own end zone by Aaron Alston with 12:48 remaining in the first quarter.
On SEMO's first possession Hess ran for a 16-yard touchdown to finish off a 5-play, 38-yard drive to push the Redhawks lead to 9-0 at the 10:04 mark.
TSU got on the board with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Deveon Bryant to Josh Trueheart, but the Redhawks immediately answered the next time they had the ball.
Andrew Bunch threw completions of 12 and 15 yards to Alston and then ran for a combined 32 yards on the next two plays. Two plays later, Hess scored his second rushing touchdown from 19 yards out to extend SEMO's lead to 16-6 with 5:16 to play in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Bunch tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Zack Smith to close out a nice 10-play, 87-yard march and give the Redhawks a 23-6 lead.
The Tigers managed to get three more points on a 20-yard field goal by Antonio Zita before Smith made a highlight-reel play on special teams.
With TSU in punt formation, Smith stole the ball right off punter Kaleb Mosley's foot and ran into the end zone widening the Redhawks margin to 30-9 with 6:36 to go in the second quarter.
Omardrick Douglas also blocked a kick before the first half ended. Douglas' blocked field goal was recovered by Shabari Davis at the TSU 30-yard line.
Kenny Doak kicked a 26-yard field goal and Hess hit paydirt for the third time adding nine more points to SEMO's lead in the third quarter.
Bunch, after throwing a 44-yard completion to Alston to get SEMO to the TSU 37-yard line, later punched it in on a 5-yard touchdown run for SEMO's final touchdown of the contest.
Hess carried the ball 11 times and averaged nearly eight yards (7.9) per touch. It was the second time he ran for at least three touchdowns in a game this season.
Bunch completed 12-of-22 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 69 yards and another score. Johnny King and Alston each caught three passes for 71 yards, as well.
Additionally, SEMO racked up a season-high 505 yards of total offense.
Defensively, Lawrence Johnson paved the way with six tackles.
Special teams wise, the Redhawks put together a strong performance with their pair of blocked kicks.
UT MARTIN 40, TENNESSEE TECH 7
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin football team saved its best for last, posting season highs in several categories in its regular season finale to knock off Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech 40-7 and claim a piece of the highly contest Sergeant York Trophy.
The Skyhawks finished the 2020-21 campaign battered and bruised but not broken, putting every phase of the game together for a thrilling victory. While the team has been ravaged by injuries and narrow defeats over the past several weeks, the squad did not opt-out but rather came together for its best all-around showing of the abbreviated season in the regular season finale.
UT Martin posted season-highs in total points (40), total offense (436 yards) and passing yards (327) while eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark for the second time this season and equaling it’s season-highs in both total touchdowns (four) and passing touchdowns (three). The Skyhawks also forced three turnovers for only the second time this season while tallying their sixth blocked kick this year which leads the nation.
With the win, UT Martin claimed a piece of the Sgt. York Trophy for the eighth time in series history. Overall, the Skyhawks have either won the trophy outright or shared a piece of the trophy in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 while improving their overall record to 29-13 in the all-time series – the best mark of the four programs.
Quarterback John Bachus III played a big part in the team’s success by completing 71 percent of his pass attempts (22-of-31) for 265 yards and three touchdowns on the afternoon. Bachus found seven different receivers and completed 10 passes of 10 yards or more, including touchdown passes totaling 50, 19 and 34 yards, respectively.
Junior wide receiver Colton Dowell led the pack with six catches for 105 yards and one touchdown – including a 50-yard touchdown late in the first quarter. Senior tight end Rodney Williams also caught six passes totaling 67 yards. Peyton Logan, Kevin Butler and Richie Griglione III each contributed in the passing game with touchdown receptions while redshirt-freshman Zak Wallace paced the ground attack with 10 carries for 48 yards and his first career rushing touchdown.
Tyler Larco capped off a promising start to his career by adding to his scoring total with a pair of field goals. Larco booted attempts from 29 and 36 yards in the second half while converting 4-of-5 PAT tries to bring his season scoring total to 47.
Linebacker John Ford paced the Skyhawk defensive effort with eight tackles on the afternoon while safety Deven Sims tallied seven tackles. Fellow safety Takeem Young made an impact all over the field, tallying six tackles on the afternoon while notching a pair of interceptions – along with 42 return yards – while also breaking up two passes and blocking a field goal attempt.
After dropping the last two contests by a total of seven points, UT Martin looked for an early spark to gain an edge in the contest and found just what it needed. While the Skyhawks opening drive got off to a rocky start with their punt being blocked, the home team’s defense responded by forcing a three-and-out of their own before Tech tried to settle for a field goal. The Skyhawks were resilient tallying their sixth blocked kick of the season as Young broke through to bat the attempt and give the ball back to the offense.
With a new bit of energy in the air, the Skyhawks used some trickery on their second drive of the game. After moving into Tech territory, Bachus tossed a lateral over to the left side to find freshman Andrew Henley near the sideline who then quickly found a streaking Logan in stride downfield for a 39-yard touchdown strike to put the Skyhawks on the board 6-0 with just over six minutes into the contest.
The Skyhawks added to their margin later in the quarter after the defense forced a three-and-out. With prime field position to start the drive on the 50-yard line, UT Martin needed just 14 seconds to find the endzone. On second and 10, Bachus found Dowell in the flats where the playmaker made his defender miss before sprinting down the sideline for the 50-yard touchdown.
Another defensive stand set up a scoring drive early in the second quarter. Tennessee Tech approached midfield before JaQuez Akins stripped Jordan Brown for a fumble and D’Carrious Stephens pounced on it for his first career fumble recovery. The Skyhawk offense enjoyed the nice field position and swiftly moved down field on back-to-back pass completions from Bachus to Dowell and Williams for 16 and 19 yards, respectively, to set-up first and goal. Once inside the ball went to Wallace who controlled the ground attack and punched it in for his first touchdown to make it 20-0.
The score would remain the same coming out of halftime until Young made another impressive defensive play as his first interception of the afternoon came in the third quarter. After his 36-yard return put the Skyhawks in the redzone, it took Bachus just one play to find Griglione in the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown to give UT Martin a 27-point advantage.
UT Martin would add 10 more points in the third quarter as Larco connected on his first field goal of the day with 1:10 to play, booting a 29-yard attempt. The Skyhawk defense then posted a quick four-down stand to force the Golden Eagles to turn it over on downs and regain possession on the Tech 34 with five seconds to play in the period. Five seconds would be plenty of time however as Bachus found Butler for a 34-yard touchdown as time expired to take a 37-0 lead heading into the fourth.
The Skyhawks turned the game over to their reserves with an opportunity to give them quality game reps in the fourth quarter. Redshirt-freshman quarterback Stewart Howell would complete 4-of-5 pass attempts in the fourth for 20 yards while true-freshman Trey Fisher also saw limited time under center where he completed both pass attempts. The Skyhawks would add on three more points in the period following Young’s second interception of the game as Larco split the uprights with a 36-yard attempt with 7:45 to play.
Tennessee Tech ruined UT Martin’s shutout effort with a late score as Willie Miller found Quinton Cross for a 22-yard touchdown over the middle with 55 seconds to play. Miller completed 21-of-44 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown while throwing two interceptions. Cross led the Golden Eagles with eight catches for 101 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, Marcus McMeans paced the team with 15 tackles and one pass breakup.