RICHMOND, Ky. – It
was all Eastern Kentucky in the Jacksonville State football's team's Ohio
Valley Conference opener on Saturday, when the Colonels erupted for a 51-21 win
at Roy Kidd Stadium.
Eastern Kentucky (3-1, 1-0 OVC) took control early, and the Gamecocks (1-2, 0-1
OVC) couldn't bounce back in front of 13,700 fans. Quarterback T.J. Pryor threw
for 231 yards and four touchdowns, while Matt Denham ran for 218 yards and two
scores to lead the Colonels to 558 yards of total offense on a night that also
saw EKU become just the 13th team to score 50 points against the Gamecocks in
JSU's program history.
Jacksonville State's offense totaled 366 yards, 181 of those through the air by
senior quarterback Marques
Ivory. The native of Warner Robins, Ga., bounced back from an
0-for-6 start to complete 14 of his last 20 pass attempts with one score and
two interceptions. He also moved up in the JSU record books, running his career
passing yards to 3,243 and passing David Gulledge for ninth place in school
history. His touchdown pass gives him 28 for his career, passing Ralph Brock in
eighth in that category.
EKU jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a Pryor pass to Denham
and a run from the tailback to take early control of the game. JSU cut it the
deficit to one possession early in the second quarter on a Coty
Blanchard pass to Denzel
Cheeks, which was followed by a two-point conversion by Jerry
Slota that made EKU's lead 14-8.
The Colonels ran away, scoring three more times before taking a 34-8 lead into
the half and then once more early in the third quarter to make it a 37-8 game.
Ivory found Gavin
Ellis for the junior tight end's first touchdown reception as
a Gamecock, a 23-yard toss that made it 37-15 late in the third, but EKU
answered with two more scores to make it 51-15 just 15 seconds into the fourth
quarter. It marked just the second time the Gamecocks have allowed 50 points or
500 yards against an OVC opponent since joining the league in 2003.
Sophomore DaMarcus
James got JSU's last score later in the fourth, a three-yard
run that posted the final score on the board and capped a 10-carry, 65-yard
night for the Demopolis, Ala., native. Senior Washaun
Ealey had 12 rushed for 47 yards.
In his first game of the season after missing the first two to a knee injury,
senior widereceiver Trey
Smith led JSU with three catches for 64 yards. Freshman Luke
Smith, who entered the game without a catch in his young
career, had three for 45 yards before the final horn blew.
In the return game, sophomore Gabriel
Chambers returned six kickoffs for 186 yards, including a
73-yard return in the first quarter.
Sophomore Ben
Endress notched a career-high 11 tackles for the JSU defense,
while junior Rashad
Smith added nine.
The Gamecocks will return home on Saturday to host Southeast Missouri at 3 p.m.
at Burgess-Snow Field.
