Though the Skyhawks fell short of keeping the top spot in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) last week, the football squad capped off a remarkable season with a final home win against Tennessee State (TSU) that resulted in an undefeated home record and a shared Sgt. York Trophy.
Hardy Graham stadium was filled with emotion on the final home game of the season, as UTM’s 20 seniors were honored during a pregame ceremony. Among those seniors, several of them contributed in big ways to cap off their final home game in Skyhawk colors, including graduate running back (RB) Jaimiee Bowe (98 rushing yards, touchdown), wide reciever (WR) Jaylon Moore (58 yards, touchdown), WR Terry Williams (47 yards, touchdown), linebacker (LB) TJ Jefferson (12 total tackles) and graduate LB Cecil Cherry (eight total tackles).
Freshman quarterback (QB) John Bachus III, who picked up his fourth OVC Newcomer of the Week honor of the season following the game, completed 16 of his 25 pass attempts for 216 yards and three touchdowns, with all three of his touchdowns going to seniors (Bowe, Williams and Moore).
The Skyhawks produced right off the bat, putting up seven points on the board on the very first drive thanks to a seven-yard touchdown from Bachus to Bowe and an ensuing extra point from junior kicker Ryan Courtright to give the Skyhawks and early lead.
The Tigers responded with a touchdown and extra point on the very next drive, evening out the score at seven-all to end the first quarter.
The second quarter didn’t start off well for the Skyhawks, as TSU defensive back (DB) Nick Harper picked off a pass attempt from Bachus, giving the Tigers a chance to capitalize from UTM’s 36-yard line.
The Tigers managed a 26-yard catch and a short rush to get to the Skyhawks’ 3-yard line following the interception, but the UTM defense stepped up and held the Tigers to a short field goal to give TSU a 10-7 lead.
Neither team managed to score again until the third quarter when Bachus connected with Moore to secure a 27-yard touchdown to put the Skyhawks back up on top 14-10. The reclaimed lead was short-lived, as TSU rushed back into UTM’s end zone to go up 17-14.
Bachus took a sack at the end of the third to set the tone for a do-or-die fourth quarter. Despite a slow start in the fourth, which included another sack on the freshman QB, the Skyhawks were once again placed on top with a touchdown pass to Williams.
Bowe sealed the deal on the Skyhawks’ win with a five-yard rushing touchdown to give the game the final score of 28-17, sending UTM’s senior class out on-top.
Overall, the Skyhawks improved their performance from their 24-38 loss to the nationally ranked Austin Peay (APSU) Governors. The Skyhawk defense, which allowed nearly 500 total yards of offense against the Governors, only allowed the Tigers to gain 316 yards of offense.
With the win, the Skyhawks clinched a shared Sgt. York trophy at the least, going 2-1 against Tennessee teams in the OVC. APSU was the only Volunteer State team to defeat the Skyhawks this year.
“To be able to send the seniors off with a victory at home is important to me and our program,” said head coach Jason Simpson, according to Sports Information.
“I’m proud of this football team. It certainly wasn’t pretty but we fought and knew they had some trouble holding onto leads, so we battled back. Certainly, it wasn’t clean but on Senior Day, there is nothing you can hope for but to play well and give these seniors a good locker room after the game.”
“This team, we had a very good chemistry, one of the best chemistries in my history of being here,” said Bowe in a postgame press conference.
The Skyhawks now have to watch the scoreboards of APSU and Southeast Missouri’s next games, as UTM needs both teams to lose in order to jump into a tie for the conference championship, according to Sports Information.
Next up on UTM’s schedule, the Skyhawks will travel north to take on FBS opponent Kentucky to close out the 2019 season.
Photo Credit / Sports Information
