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Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – A matter of inches late in the third quarter gave No. 1 ranked Jacksonville State the momentum the Gamecocks needed to beat Eastern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at O'Brien Field. Dalton Screws caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from a scrambling Eli Jenkins with 15 seconds left in the third quarter that gave JSU a 10-3 lead before they added two fourth quarter touchdowns for a 24-3 win.
EIU's defense which had held Jenkins in check most of the game had the quarterback scrambling out of the pocket as
Kamu Grugier-Hill was in pursuit. Jenkins let the ball fly and Screws came down with the catch just inches from the end line to break a 3-3 deadlock. The win left JSU as the last unbeaten team in the OVC as the Gamecocks are now 8-1, 6-0 in the OVC. EIU fell to 5-4, 5-1 in the OVC.
The Panthers defense was able to force JSU's offense to turn the ball over on downs the first two times the Gamecocks had the ball. The second drive was stopped at the 3-yard line as Grugier-Hill and
Jarvis Williams combined for the stop.
EIU then took to the ground as
Devin Church ripped off a 42-yard run to give the Panthers some breathing room.
Shepard Little added two 10-plus yard runs and Church tacked on another as the Panthers drove the ball into the JSU red zone. A combination of penalties by both teams had EIU take eight snaps inside the ten yard line. JSU's defense was able to hold and
Nick Bruno put EIU up 3-0 with a 23-yard field goal with 14:12 to play in the first half.
JSU would tie the game with 15 seconds to go in the first half as Connor Rouleau converted a 23-yard field goal.
The two defenses stood up early in the third quarter until Jenkins completion to Screws. Following the Screws touchdown, JSU's defense forced a three-and-out. The Gamecocks then marched 59 yards to go up 17-3 as Troymaine Pope rushed in from 10 yards out with 11:20 to play. Pope finished with 114 yards on the ground, Jenkins had 93 yards.
Dawson Wells iced the game for JSU on the next series as he picked off a
Jalen Whitlow pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. It was the only turnover by either team.
EIU drove into JSU territory one more time but turned the ball over on downs at the JSU 23 with 6:47 to play. The Panthers finished with 239 yards of total offense with 175 yards on the ground. Church finished with 84 yards while Little had 81.
Two of the top teams in the nation in terms of tackles for loss per game, JSU finished with eight tackles for loss led by Monty Young with two. EIU had seven tackles for loss with
Jourdan Wickliffe collecting two.
The Panthers defense was led by
Seth McDonald with 17 tackles, a half sack and a forced fumble. Grugier-Hill had 11 tackles with one tackle for loss. Folo Johnson and Brandon Bender each had eight tackles for JSU.
