ETSU gets past VMI in SoCon
LEXINGTON, Va. — Quay Holmes ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns as East Tennessee State University beat Virginia Military Institute 24-20 on Saturday in a key matchup for the Southern Conference’s spring football season.
VMI (5-1, 5-1), ranked 10th in the nation by both the Football Championship Subdivision coaches and in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, would have clinched the SoCon title with a win against the Buccaneers. The Keydets are off next weekend before closing the regular season against The Citadel on Aprl 17, the day before the 16-team FCS playoff field for the 2020-21 season is revealed.
ETSU (4-1, 4-1) plays at Mercer next weekend and was scheduled to face the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on April 17, but the Mocs announced this past Monday they would opt out of the rest of the season, canceling games against Western Carolina and Samford in addition to ETSU. The Bucs’ game at Wofford on March 6 was postponed due to COVID19 protocol for the Terriers, who are already set to play Furman on April 17. Already postponed this year was what was to be a SoCon opener between UTC and VMI on Feb. 20.
The Keydets drove to the ETSU 35 on their final possession, but Tyree Robinson forced a fumble by receiver Jakob Herres with 3:50 to play.
Holmes had 29 carries in the game and scored from the 1 in the first quarter and the 4 with 12:36 remaining.
VMI’s Seth Morgan was 36-of-46 passing for 315 yards, and he added 42 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Herres had eight catches for 101 yards.
› The Citadel 28, Wofford 24
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Clay Harris scored his second touchdown on an 8-yard run with eight seconds to play to cap an 18-carry, 113-yard rushing performance, and The Citadel (1-9, 1-5 SoCon) overcame a 17-point deficit in the second half to snap an 11-game losing streak.
Carson Hatchett forced a fumble by Wofford’s Irvin Mulligan at The Citadel 38 with 5:21 remaining to set up the 10-play drive finished by Harris running into the end zone. The Bulldogs had not won since beating ETSU 31-27 on Nov. 2, 2019.
Wofford (1-4, 1-4) led 24-7 early in the third quarter before the visiting Bulldogs began to rally.
› Mercer 26, Furman 24
MACON, Ga. — Carter Peevy was 21-of-26 passing for 406 yards — eclipsing his season high by almost 200 yards — with two touchdowns as the Bears (4-5, 4-2 SoCon) pushed their winning streak to three games.
Ty James had eight catches for a season-high 179 yards and a touchdown, and Ethan Dirrim had four for a season-high 110 yards and a touchdown. Dirrim, James and Peevy are all freshmen.
The Paladins (3-3, 3-3) are ranked 17th by coaches and 21st by Stats.
› Austin Peay 34, Murray State 31
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Grant Paulette kicked a 33-yard field goal with two seconds remaining as the Governors (8-2, 5-1 OVC) took down Murray State (5-1, 5-1), which is ranked 13th by coaches and 14th by Stats.
Despite the loss in a game that was tied five times, the Racers will square off next weekend with 12th-ranked Jacksonville State (8-2, 5-1) for the league title and an automatic berth to the FCS playoffs. Austin Peay, coming off a 13-10 win against Jacksonville State, defeated ranked teams in back-toback games for the first time in program history.
› SE Missouri 21, UT Martin 16
MARTIN, Tenn. — John Bachus was 26-of-45 passing for 275 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for the University of Tennessee at Martin (2-4, 2-4 OVC), which never led and couldn’t close the gap after getting with a touchdown of the lead with more than six minutes to play against Southeast Missouri (3-4, 3-3).
› Tennessee Tech 24, Tennessee State 10
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Tech quarterback Willie Miller had 205 yards of total offense and threw a touchdown pass as the Golden Eagles (2-4, 2-4 OVC) never trailed. Antonio Zita kicked a 51-yard field goal for the Tigers (2-4, 2-4) to cut their deficit to 14-3 before halftime, but they got no closer.