FG on final play seals Stetson’s 1st victory over Jacksonville

DELAND — Jonny Messina lined up a 22-yard field goal from the right hashmark and drove it through as time expired, lifting Stetson to a 38-35 victory over Jacksonville late Saturday night.

The win was the first time Stetson has beaten Jacksonville in six meetings and avenged 2017’s crushing 13-10 loss to Jacksonville when receiver Ja’Vonta Swinton was pushed out of bounds at the 1 as time ran out. The Hatters on the sideline erupted as the Messina’s kick went through, and they rushed the field to bury Messina in a joyous dogpile.

Stetson (5-1, 3-1 Pioneer League) is off to its best start since 1950 and has most wins in a season since football was revived in 2013.

Calvin Turner Jr. raced 71 yards for the last of his three touchdowns to put Jacksonville (1-5, 0-4) ahead 35-28 with 8:27 remaining.

Colin McGovern hooked up with Donald Parham for a 20-yard score with 5:38 to go and, after forcing a Jacksonville punt, the Hatters drove 80 yards in 14 plays for the winning kick.

McGovern completed 27 of 36 passes for a schoolrecord 391 yards with 3 TDs. Parham had 14 receptions, 11 in the fourth quarter, for 150 yards.

B-CU FALLS: Jah-Maine Martin rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown, Lamar Raynard passed for 189 yards and two scores and a balanced North Carolina A&T built a commanding early lead and defeated Bethune-Cookman 35-10 on Saturday.

Five players scored touchdowns for NC A&T (6-2, 3-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), which piled up 471 yards total offense to 196 and held the ball for nearly 36 minutes.

Bethune-Cookman (4-4, 2-2) never really got close as the Wildcats’ threegame winning streak came to an end.

FIU ROLLS: James Morgan passed for 229 yards and two touchdowns, Maurice Alexander raced 51 yards for a score and Jose Borregales kicked three field goals as Florida International breezed to a 36-17 victory over Rice in Conference USA action on Saturday night.

Evan Marshman’s 7-yard TD run gave Rice (1-7, 0-4) a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Panthers (5-2, 3-0) took control in the second quarter. Borregales’ 32-yard field goal put FIU on the scoreboard, Alexander followed with his long TD run on the Panthers’ next possession and Morgan found Austin Maloney for a 33-yard scoring strike.

FIU’s first drive of the third quarter ended with Borregales’ 38-yard field goal and Morgan connected with Shemar Thornton for a 29-yard score and a 26-10 lead. Marshman’s 22-yard TD run capped the scoring for Rice and left them trailing 26-17 after three quarters.

The Panthers put the game out of reach on Morgan’s 4-yard TD run and Borregales’ 47-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

FAU STALLS: Alex Thomson passed for two touchdowns and ran for another and the Marshall defense forced five turnovers in beating Florida Atlantic 31-7 on Saturday.

Armani Levias caught three passes for 47 yards and two scores, of 13 and 29 yards, for Marshall (5-2, 3-1 Conference USA), which has won 15 straight games when scoring first. Tyler King rushed for 125 yards and one touchdown for his third straight 100-yard game.

Chris Robison was intercepted four times for FAU (3-4, 1-2). He was 18-of-35 passing for 223 yards and a 2-yard score to Harrison Bryant for a 7-3 lead.