The UTM football team jumped out to an early lead on Sunday afternoon before the 10th-ranked Jacksonville State Gamecocks went on a roll to secure their FCS-leading sixth straight victory and remain atop the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) standings with a 37-20 road win.
The Skyhawks (1-2, 1-2 OVC) scored the game’s first 10 points ā all of which coming in the opening quarter. UTM capitalized on a muffed punt on the opening drive asĀ Tyler LarcoĀ sailed a 21-yard field goal through the uprights to take an early advantage less than three minutes into the contest. The home squad would add to their lead before the end of the first period with the game’s first touchdown on a one-yard quarterback keeper byĀ John Bachus IIIĀ to cap off a 12-play, 95-yard scoring drive.
After dominating the opening period, the Skyhawks looked to continue their momentum in the second quarter after a missed field goal attempt began a new drive. That was when the game took a strong change in momentum. On third down, Bachus would be strip-sacked by Jaylen Swain with the Gamecocks’ DJ Coleman recovering the ball on the UTM seven-yard line. JSU would waste little time punching it in as Josh Samuel scored on his second attempt to make it a 10-7 contest.
The Gamecocks (6-1, 3-0 OVC) added two more touchdowns in the second quarter following a lengthy 11-play, 60-yard drive punctuated by a six-yard pass from Zion Webb to Dave Russell while Webb added another strike through the air ā this time a 39-yard pass to Ahmad Edwards to take a 20-10 lead into halftime.
Jacksonville State added to its margin ā scoring 27 unanswered points ā with a 14-yard touchdown from Webb to Michael Pettway with 6:31 to play in the third quarter.
UTM pieced together a nice offensive drive on the ensuing possession with three highlight caliber receptions from the trio ofĀ Rodney Williams IIĀ (18 yards),Ā Colton DowellĀ (11 yards) andĀ Donnell WilliamsĀ (29 yards). The Skyhawks marched down the field 76 yards before settling for Larco’s second 21-yard field goal of the game to make it a 27-13 contest.
The Gamecocks answered the Skyhawks field goal with a trifecta of their own as Alen Karajic booted a 25-yard field goal with 12:31 to play to post the first successfully made field goal by a UTM opponent this season.
The Skyhawks hoped to make a final push to trim the gap in the fourth quarter and moved the ball efficiently down the field. Bachus found his receivers for four completions of 15 yards or more ā including a 15-yard strike to Dowell for a touchdown in the back-left corner to make it a 30-20 contest with 9:30 to play.
Jacksonville State would put the game in cruise control down the stretch, slowing the game down and stretching out the ensuing drive over seven minutes before finding the endzone on a five-yard touchdown by Uriah West to put the finishing touches on the team’s sixth straight victory.
“We got off to a great start in the first quarter getting up 10-0,” UTM head coachĀ Jason SimpsonĀ said. “It seemed like we were able to run the ball and get the play action going a little bit. Once we scored that first drive, they said forget it, we are going to load this box up and play man coverage. Then once we had the fumble on their redzone it just started to snowball from there. They got their run game going and found balance. We just couldn’t match that. It is disappointing but we are all in this together and we will get it fixed.”
Bachus completed 24-of-43 pass attempts for 252 yards and one touchdown on the day. Donnell Williams led the Skyhawk receiving core with seven receptions for 108 yards ā posting his first 100-yard receiving game of his career. Dowell tallied five receptions for 59 yards along with one touchdown ā the eighth of his career.
Defensively, senior safety Deven Sims tallied a game-high 12 tackles along with 1.5 tackles for loss ā including a sack. Junior linebacker ranked second on the team with eight tackles while joining Sims, Chris Hunter and Giovanni Davis with 1.5 tackles for loss on the afternoon. Graduate transfer Jay Woods tallied a fumble recovery for the team’s lone turnover while Korbin Harmon blocked a point after attempt.
Webb highlighted the Gamecocks’ offensive attack by completing 11-of-20 pass attempts for 215 yards and three touchdowns. Russell led the team with five receptions for 107 yards while joining Edwards and Pettway with touchdown receptions. West and Samuel tallied the team’s rushing touchdowns.
The Gamecocks defense saw Jeremiah Harris and Marshall Clark tally nine tackles each while Markail Benton and Darius Joiner tallied forced fumbles.
UTM will shift its focus to its next opponent Austin Peay with a road matchup on Sunday, March 21. Action from Fortera Stadium is scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m.
