The Skyhawk football squad pulled off a huge win against nationally ranked and 2018 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) regular season champion Jacksonville State (JSU) to improve to 6-3 on the season and 5-1 in the conference.
This year’s homecoming victory, UTM’s first win against the Gamecocks since 2012, makes head coach Jason Simpson the all-time wins leader for the football program with 86.
Freshman quarterback (QB) John Bachus III once again had a strong outing, completing 18 of his 32 pass attempts for 245 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.
Despite relying more on Bachus’ arm to move the team downfield, Bachus and junior running back (RB) Peyton Logan both had strong performances on the ground, as Peyton led the team in rushing yards with 73 on six carries (an average of 12.2 yards per carry before leaving with an injury) and Bachus ran one in for a touchdown.
In addition to averaging over 12 yards per carry, Logan also was never tackled for a loss of yardage.
Sophomore tight end (TE) Colton Dowell had another big game as well, leading the team in receiving yards with 117 and a touchdown.
Defensively, graduate linebacker (LB) Cecil Cherry made his mark on the afternoon with 14 tackles and two tackles-for-loss, along with a sack and QB hurries.
The Skyhawk defense also added three more sacks to their lead in the OVC.
The first quarter featured limited offensive production from both teams. UTM’s best chance to get on the board came in the final five minutes of the quarter when junior kicker Ryan Courtright came on the field.
However, Courtright, who had all but two of his field goal attempts up until homecoming, kicked wide left on the 46-yard field goal attempt to keep the first quarter scoreless.
JSU QB Zerrick Cooper managed a 1-yard rushing touchdown to give the Gamecocks an early 7-0 lead. However, graduate defensive back (DB) Cam Ordway picked off Cooper for his second interception of the year to cap off the quarter.
The Skyhawk offense got going in the second quarter thanks to a 20-yard dime from Bachus to junior RB Marqwell Odom that would ulitmately lead to a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Bachus to even the score at 7-all.
UTM struck again on their next drive, utilizing short catches by senior wide receiver (WR) Terry Williams and 16-yard rush by junior RB Lamarcus Young to set up a 26-yard reception by Dowell put the Skyhawks up 13-7.
Courtright continued to struggle, however, missing the ensuing extra point attempt.
The Gamecocks would manage another touchdown at the very end of the quarter to give JSU a 14-13 lead going into halftime.
The third quarter failed to produce much offense on either side. After JSU’s initial turnover-on-downs, the two teams exchanged a couple of punts, but UTM’s WR had different plans on the Gamecocks’ second punt.
The Gamecocks sent out kicker Jason Pierce for the punt, who managed to get it to the UTM 35-yard line for 51 total yards. Williams was there for the catch, where he proceeded to take off and tip-toe on the sideline to the end zone for a 65-yard punt return touchdown.
The Skyhawks attempted a two-point conversion, but Bachus’ pass attempt failed and the Skyhawks kicked it back to the Gamecocks, this time with a 19-14 lead.
JSU lowered their deficit with an early field goal in the fourth quarter. On the next drive, Courtright got back on the ball and answered with his own field goal to put the Skyhawks up 22-17.
On JSU’s final drive of the fourth, with time quickly expiring, senior defensive lineman (DL) Austin Pickett sacked Cooper for a loss of 13-yards, effectively ending JSU’s chance of a comeback.
“Give them credit, [JSU head coach] John Grass has done a great job and set the standard,” Simpson said to Sports Information. “When you do have a chance to get them, you better get them. We didn’t do it last year and today we came out on top. I’m proud of the way the guys showed resilience and fought back. We have several guys dinged up but they kept fighting and hung around in the game until we found a way. These guys competed and I’m proud of that.”
After the win over the Gamecocks, the Skyhawks also swept all OVC weekly honors (Newcomer, Offensive, Defensive and Specialist) for the first time since joining the OVC in 1992, according to Sports Information.
Bachus took home both the offensive and newcomer honors while Cherry and Williams took defensive and specialist, respectively.
The Skyhawks will now turn their attention to arguably their biggest regular-season game of the year against Austin Peay (6-3 overall, 4-1 conference) on Nov. 9 in Clarksville.
The Governors sit right behind the Skyhawks in the conference standings, with the incoming game deciding who will take the top spot in the conference.
