SATURDAY'S SCORES
@#15 Southeast Missouri 52, Murray State 22
@#25 UT Martin 34, Eastern Illinois 31
#25 North Carolina Central 22,
@Tennessee Tech 20
Tennessee State 22, @Texas A&M-Commerce 14
#15 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 52, MURRAY STATE 22
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Geno Hess broke a Southeast Missouri and Ohio Valley Conference single-game record with 317 yards and four touchdowns as the #15 Redhawks (9-2, 5-0) dis-mantled Murray State (2-9, 1-4), 52-22, to win the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference title Saturday.
With the win, SEMO clinched at least a share of the crown. If UT Martin also wins, a coin flip later this evening will determine which school gets the automatic berth in the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.
SEMO won its third OVC title in program history and second under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz. The Redhawks hoisted the OVC regular-season trophy in 2010, 2019 and 2022.
The Redhawks made light work of MSU all day and wasted no time getting a lead.
SEMO pulled ahead on the third play of the game with a defensive touchdown when William McCall intercepted Jayden Stinson and ran 49 yards to the end zone. McCall's second interception of the season gave the Redhawks a 7-0 lead just 1:25 into the contest.
Two more first-quarter touchdowns followed, including a 8-yard run by Ryan Flournoy and 73-yard rush by Hess to run SEMO's lead to 21-3 with 2:51 remaining.
After MSU scored its first touchdown of the game, the Redhawks answered with 10 points to close out the half and take a comfortable 31-9 lead at the intermission.
DC Pippin kicked a 26-yard field goal before Hess broke free for a 43-yard touchdown in the final 6:36 of the first half.
The Redhawks tacked on 14 more points in the third quarter and another seven in the fourth to bury the Racers.
Hess took off for a 31-yard touchdown run and Flournoy returned an onside kick 52 yards for a score in third quarter.
A 21-yard touchdown run by Hess put the final points on the board for the Redhawks.
Hess scored four touchdowns in a game for the third time in his career and second this season. He ran for over 100 yards for the sixth time in eight starts. It marked the fourth time he ran for over 200 yards in his career, as well. Hess' 317 yards surpassed SEMO's previous record of 311 yards by Marquis Terry at Southern Illinois during the 2018 campaign.
In his first career start at quarterback, freshman Patrick Heitert completed 10-of-19 passes for 81 yards and ran for 11 yards on six carries.
Johnny King and Flournoy each paved the way with three receptions. Flournoy finished with a team-high 39 receiving yards.
Defensively, Bryce Norman had 12 tackles for his sixth double-digit tackle game this season. Norman went over 100 tackles this year. Christian Fuhrman and Jacob Morrissey followed with eight tackles apiece.
SEMO racked up 445 yards of total offense with 364 of those coming on the ground. The Redhawks outgained the Racers 364-174 in rushing yards.
The Redhawks honored their 16 seniors prior to kickoff.
#25 UT MARTIN 34, EASTERN ILLINOIS 31
MARTIN, Tenn. - The No. 25 ranked University of Tennessee at Martin football squad recorded a piece of history on Saturday by becoming the first team in program history to win back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference championships following a 34-31 victory over Eastern Illinois.
The Skyhawks finish the regular season with a 7-4 overall record while powering towards the program’s first unbeaten league schedule since it became a four-year institution. The win secured the program’s second straight OVC championship while serving as co-championship with Southeast Missouri (9-2, 5-0 OVC) who also went unbeaten. In total, UT Martin has now won OVC league titles in 2006, 2021 and 2022.
Following the game, the OVC Commissioner – while being spectated by representatives from both UT Martin and Southeast Missouri – conducted a coin flip to determine the NCAA Division I Championships automatic qualifier. While UT Martin won the right to call the flip, the coin came up heads resulting in Southeast Missouri earning the league’s automatic playoff berth. The Skyhawks will hope to see their name called as an at-large selection in tomorrow’s FCS Championship Selection Show.
Along with the championship, the Skyhawks saw some individuals cap off historic seasons. Prior to the contest, UT Martin recognized its senior class as they were surrounded by family and friends. One of those Skyhawks playing his final game at Hardy Graham Stadium was Colton Dowell who added yet another personal achievement to his decorated career. After entering the game with 918 receiving yards for the season, Dowell notched his 12th career 100-yard receiving game with 118 yards to bring his 2022 yardage total up to 1,036 yards – becoming just the fourth player in program history to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.
The Skyhawks had another playmaker also eclipse 1,000 yards for the season today as Zak Wallace joined an exclusive club. While already ranking as one of the program’s top running backs in his redshirt-sophomore season, Wallace became just the eighth individual in UT Martin history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a season – finishing the regular season with 1,012 yards.
Another standout potentially took his final snap as a Skyhawk with quarterback Dresser Winn completing 17-of-28 passes for 227 yards and two total touchdowns (one passing and one rushing). Winn found Dowell for a 52-yard touchdown in the second quarter while using a quarterback keeper to scramble three yards for a touchdown. If this marks the final contest for Winn, he finishes his career with 5,800 passing yards, 5,964 yards of total offense and 37 passing touchdowns – each of which rank fifth in program history.
Defensively, the linebacker duo of Rob Hicks and John H. Ford II put on yet another clinic in Saturday’s contest. The duo both finished in double figures in the tackle column with Ford leading all players with 11 stops while Hicks wasn’t far behind with 10. The tandem each finished the year over the century mark for tackles with Hicks leading the league with 113 while Ford ranks third in the OVC with 106. This marks the first time that the Skyhawks have had two players finish over 100 tackles in the same season since 2004 when Markeseo Jackson (116) and Russell Gambrell (101) combined for 217.
The Skyhawks played with a high motor on the defensive side as the squad forced four fumbles – recovering two – while also adding to their OVC lead with two more interceptions. The group of Ford, TJ Neal, Daylan Dotson and Chris Hunter each tallied forced fumbles while defensive tackle Jay Rogers recovered a pair of loose balls. Meanwhile, Tyler Gore registered his second interception of the season while Neal also sealed the game with a later interception of his own.
The squad also kept EIU out of the pocket with 13 hurries while tallying nine tackles for loss and four sacks. Dotson paced the squad with 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks to add to his OVC lead in both categories. Sophomore cornerback Oshae Baker also tallied two tackles for loss to go along with a pair of pass breakups.
UT Martin would jump out to an early lead in the contest with a 78-yard scoring drive on the team’s first possession of the contest. On the eighth play of the opening drive, Sam Franklin punched in his eighth rushing touchdown of the season on a four-yard carry. The lead was short-lived however as Eastern Illinois scored just two plays later as Dom Shoffner found Jaelin Benefield for an 84-yard touchdown connection to tie the contest up.
Much like EIU’s scoring drive to tie up the contest on the previous drive, UT Martin responded in similar fashion. Winn hit receiver EJ Smoot for a 74-yard connection on the team’s first play of the drive before Wallace found the end zone for the 16th time this season – tying legendary running back Don Chapman for second in the program’s single-season history.
Eastern Illinois responded to the big play with a lengthy drive of its own – capped off by a field goal from Stone Galloway to cut the margin down to four before later taking its lone lead of the contest on the next possession off a 63-yard touchdown from Shoffner to Justin Bowick.
With the Skyhawks facing a three-point deficit after one quarter of play, the squad struck back midway through the second to retake an advantage it would relinquish. Following a quick three-and-out in the second quarter, UT Martin took advantage of great field position as Winn hit Dowell for a 52-yard touchdown – giving UT Martin a 21-17 lead which it took into halftime.
The third quarter saw both teams put points on the board. Tyler Larco went to work for the Skyhawks by nailing a pair of field goals from 34 and 27 yards, respectively, to take a 10-point lead. The Panthers later answered with another deep touchdown strike from Shoffner to Bowick to cut the deficit back down to three.
Each team exchanged rushing touchdowns by their quarterbacks in the fourth quarter. Winn got on the board with a two-yard rush early in the period to take a 10-point lead before Shoffner came right back with a two-yard carry of his own to trim the margin down to three once again.
As both teams exchanged punts back-and-forth in the fourth quarter, it was UT Martin which found the ultimate stop late in the contest. With the Panthers trailing by three with 1:25 to go in the contest, the team found a quick first down before later seeing their comeback hopes spoiled on an interception by Neal to put the game away and secure the league championship for the Skyhawks.
#25 NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 22, TENNESSEE TECH 20
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech came so close to ending the season on a high note. After taking the lead with 2:43 remaining after quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall pushed forward on 1st-and-goal among the scrum for a score, the Golden Eagles just had to get a stop to top No. 25 North Carolina Central and win its first game against a Top 25 team since 2014.
And it appeared Tech had gotten that stop – facing 4th-and-9 on its own 29, Davius Richard completed a pass to Latrel Collier and it appeared that Collier might have fallen short of the first-down marker and the call on the field granted the first down. After the review, the visiting Eagles were granted the first down.
Instead of getting to line up in victory formation and run out the clock, Tech had to stay on defense.
North Carolina Central took advantage of the decision and marched down the field all the way to the Golden Eagle 19 and Richard even took a shot to the end zone before NCCU was down to one last play.
With two seconds on the clock, Adrian Olivo lined up for what was a 36-yard field goal, clearing the distance as time expired and stunning the Golden Eagles 22-20 on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles end their season with a 4-7 record. North Carolina Central improved to 9-2 and waits for the winner from the Southwest Athletic Conference to play in the HBCU Celebration Bowl in December.
NC Central showed how explosive its offense can be in its first drive as the visiting Eagles went 60 yards on three plays, scoring as Collier broke loose for a 37-yard touchdown run.
Tech's first four drives combined for 40 yards, ending in three punts and a lost fumble. Tech traded an interception and a lost fumble along the way, leaving the turnover ratio even.
The Golden Eagle defense however was able to bend but not break on two first-half drives, keeping NCCU out of the end zone twice as the visitors reached the Tech 8 and 9 in respective drives and holding them to field goals for Olivo.
NCCU led 13-0 before the Golden Eagles were able to get momentum building as Tech got on the scoreboard just before the first half ended as Jayvian Allen scored on a one-yard run with 57 seconds remaining in the half.
Allen set a new career-best in the contest as he ended the day with 83 rushing yards and a score, while also adding 18 return yards for 101 all-purpose yards. The drive used the two-minute offense to perfection, collecting 64 yards on eight plays over 1:38.
Tech scored first in the second half and took the lead as Oatsvall found Hunter Barnhart open up the middle and he got 21 yards on the pickup for a touchdown. Hayden Olsen kicked the PAT, tying Nick Madonia with his 66th consecutive PAT completion as Olsen remains perfect in his career, going 66-for-66.
As the third quarter closed on an Oatsvall interception, the visitors needed one play to capitalize as Richard escaped a tackle and got some distance to get enough room to score to retake the lead. NCCU elected to go for two but the pass was incomplete to make it a 19-14 game.
On the next drive, the Golden Eagles ate up 4:12 on the clock and marched up 65 yards on 11 plays as Tech collected five first downs and converted on 4th-and-9. Earning 1st-and-goal from the NCCU 1 after a 17-yard pickup by Heath Price, both sides loaded up the box at the goal line and Oatsvall pushed forward into the rugby-style scrum and across for the score.
Tech elected to go for two to try to get a three-point advantage. Oatsvall flipped the ball to Willie Miller while the Tech signal caller went scrambling into the end zone. Miller launched the ball toward Oatsvall, who had a good play on the ball, but was unable to finish the play.
Oatsvall ended the game with 189 yards on 16-of-26 passing. In addition to Allen's 83 yards, Justin Pegues ran for 43 yards on four carries. Metrius Fleming led Tech in receiving with six catches for 97 yards.
Seth Carlisle and Jacques McGowan led Tech with 11 tackles each, while Josh Reliford ended the game with 10 stops.
Richard led NCCU with 143 passing yards and 54 rushing yards, while Collier rushed for a team-high 130 yards on 22 carries.
TENNESSEE STATE 22, TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE 14
COMMERCE, Texas - ennessee State scored first and never looked back on the way to a 22-14 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday afternoon on the road at Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium.
TSU closes its season with a 4-7 record after picking up the win.
Jordan Gant led all TSU rushers with 54 yards in the contest, picking up 4.9 yards per carry. Devon Starling also added 49 yards on the ground, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
Draylen Ellis' most prolific target in the ballgame was Karate Brenson, who caught three passes for 69 yards.
Darius Harper showed out for the Tennessee State defense, collecting five tackles, two interceptions, and one recovered fumble. Davion Nash added three tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one sack in the win.
TSU won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing three turnovers while avoiding any giveaways, with Tennessee State turning those takeaways into 16 points.
Defensively, Tennessee State held up fairly well against the Texas A&M-Commerce passing attack, holding the AMC to 168 yards through the air. The TSU defense disrupted the Texas A&M-Commerce passing attack on the way to pulling down two interceptions and breaking up two AMC passes.
Texas A&M-Commerce scored first to take a 7-7 lead, but Tennessee State fired back with 11:11 left in the second quarter to go up 10-7.The TSU then extended the lead to 16-7 with another score.
Tennessee State continued to extend its lead, scoring again with :21 left in the second quarter to go on top 19-7.The TSU kept building their lead, scoring again to go ahead 22-7. Tennessee State didn't score again in the game and Texas A&M-Commerce tacked on seven more points to finish off the scoring.