Nov. 13, 2010

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

By Jeff Honza
Southeast Missouri State Sports Information

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Alan Bonner caught a 17-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left to help No. 6 Jacksonville State (9-1, 6-1) escape with a 29-27 win over No. 7 Southeast Missouri (9-2, 7-1) Saturday in a thriller at Burgess-Snow Field.

Bonner hauled in the game-winning score in the right corner of the end zone after CB Aaron Grimes slipped on the play.

This year's Ohio Valley Conference title game was everything it was hyped up to be.

"That was a heckuva championship football game. There's no question about it," said Southeast head coach Tony Samuel. "Both teams battled toe-to-toe. They came up with the big play at the end."

Both JSU and Southeast, which met as nationally-ranked Top-10 teams for the first time ever, went down to the wire in a flair for the dramatic.

Trailing, 27-22, with 4:06 left to play, JSU went 57 yards in 11 plays to polish off its come-from-behind win.

The Gamecocks started their final drive at their own 43-yardline and used a huge 29-yard pass play from Marques Ivory to Jeffrey Cameron to get to Southeast's 29-yardline on a 2nd-and-31.

Ivory, after rushing for three yards, then threw a 9-yard completion to Calvin Middleton before hooking up with Bonner.

Southeast took its first lead of the game on D.J. Foster's first career touchdown reception at the 10:46 mark of the fourth quarter. Foster grabbed a 19-yard pass from Matt Scheible to give the Redhawks a 21-19 edge.

James Esco's 25-yard field goal, his third of the game, regained a 22-21 advantage for the Gamecocks with 6:43 on the clock.

Two big rushing plays, including a 41-yard run by Henry Harris and 14-yard run by Scheible set up Southeast's final touchdown which came on a 1-yard plunge by Harris with 4:06 remaining. The Redhawks missed the two-point conversion.

The game opened with a blocked punt and a fumble on the first two possessions.

Southeast lined up in punt formation on a 4th-and-5 when A.J. Davis rushed the middle to block Joe Vucic's kick. T.J. Heath recovered for the Gamecocks at the Redhawks 34-yardline.

Three plays later, Coty Blanchard fumbled the ball and Blake Peiffer recovered at the Southeast-22. The Redhawks, however, were forced to punt.

JSU took over on downs at its own 22 and faced a 3rd-and-15 when Ivory fumbled the snap. Ivory recovered at the Gamecocks 17-yardline. On the next play, Blanchard's punt travelled only 20 yards, giving Southeast excellent field position at the JSU 30.

On the first play of the drive, Scheible threw a wobbly 25-yard completion to Miles Edwards. Edwards jumped in between two defenders to make the catch at the Gamecocks 5-yardline. Scheible later scored on a 1-yard run to give the Redhawks a 7-0 lead with 3:49 left in the first quarter.

Darius Barksdale ran for 23 yards on five carries to key the Gamecocks first scoring drive. After Barksdale's 12-yard run gave JSU a first down at the Southeast-1, Middleton scored to tie the game at 7-7 with 14:14 remaining in the second quarter.

Esco's 34-yard field goal capped an 8-play, 43-yard drive to push JSU's lead to 10-7 at the 10:06 mark.

Southeast had a 1st-and-10 at the Gamecocks 25-yardline, but that drive resulted in a missed 38-yard field goal by Drew Geldbach. Geldbach's kick sailed wide left following back-to-back incompletions (one of which was a dropped pass) leaving the score, 10-7, at the half.

Both teams were nearly even in total offense, rushing yards and passing yards during the first half. Southeast held the advantage in total offense (187-181) and passing yardage (115-103), while JSU had the edge in rushing yards (78-72).

Barksdale carried the ball 20 times for 113 yards and Ivory completed 18-of-26 passes for 222 yards and threw the game-winning touchdown to lead JSU.

Harris, who broke Southeast's single-season records in rushing (17) and total (18) touchdowns, ran for 134 yards and a touchdown on 21 attempts. It marked Harris' ninth 100-yard performance this year.

"Offensively, I thought we wore them down and defensively we were worn down. It just came down to that last pass play," said Samuel. "These are two very good football programs. Jacksonville State has their tradition and we're just starting our tradition."

Scheible completed 13-of-22 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.

"We were right there," said Scheible. "One of our goals was to win the conference title outright. Obviously, it hurts."

Defensively, Grimes (13), Peiffer (11) and Kweku Arkorful (10) each registered double-digit tackles.

"It was a great game. We all wanted it so bad," said Peiffer. "We just have to keep our heads up."

The Redhawk defense also forced five fumbles and had three takeaways. Arkorful stripped the ball out of Bonner's hands on a punt return. That turnover led to Foster's touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Southeast's nine-game winning streak came to an end against the Gamecocks today.

The Redhawks, who finished the regular-season at 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the OVC, will learn their postseason fate during the NCAA Division I Championship selection show on Nov. 21. The selection show will air live on ESPNU at 9 a.m., CT.