Jacksonville State remained in position to finish on top of the ASUN standings by running away from Eastern Kentucky, 42-17, in the Gamecocks' final FCS game at Snow-Burgess Field.

The Gamecocks improved to 8-2 overall and 4-0 in the ASUN Conference. Jacksonville State can claim the outright title next week at Central Arkansas.

“For our guys, they’ve got at least a share, so this is a huge week for us coming up because we don’t want a share of it,” Rodriguez said. “We want to try to win it outright.”

Jacksonville State stayed in position to win the title by rushing for 341 yards and six touchdowns on Saturday. Quarterback Zion Webb, one of 11 seniors honored in Senior Day festivities before the game, had a career-best 104 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Pat Jackson also had two rushing touchdowns, Ron Wiggins had a game-high 139 yards and a touchdown. Matt LaRoche had 82 yards with a touchdown.

Webb was asked afterward about what winning next week would mean to the seniors.

“I think it really means something to the eleven seniors, for them to go out with a bang and set the foundation for Jacksonville State as a winning program going forward,” Webb said. “It’s just really big for us to go out with a win, leave everything out on the field, and even though we won’t be recognized as ASUN champions, it will still be known.”

BENEDICT COLLEGE 58, TUSKEGEE 21:  The Golden Tigers fell into a two-touchdown hole quickly and trailed 42-14 at halftime in the SIAC Championship Game in Columbia, South Carolina. Benedict College then cruised to its 11th victory of the season and the SIAC title.

Tuskegee only managed 41 yards rushing, which made it tough on an offense accustomed to rushing success. Quarterback Bryson Williams and receiver Antonio Meeks connected on touchdown passes of 66 and 75 yards in the half. The other Tuskegee score came on an 11-yard pass from Drelon Monroe to Noah Hart.

Tuskegee finishes 8-3. The Golden Tigers had their eight-game winning streak snapped.  

HUNTINGDON 55, LAGRANGE 7: Huntingdon College clinched the USA South Conference championship for the fourth consecutive season. The Hawks did so in dominating fashion, outgaining LaGrange 555-157 yards and scoring touchdowns on eight of 11 possessions in the home game.

"It's cool to be here,” said Huntingdon coach Mike Turk. “We have not been able to celebrate the Conference Championship here since 2015, so we are thankful for that and all of our guys for all they have done to get us here. Our mindset for playoffs is to keep playing. When you are in that situation, the only way you get to keep playing is if you win, and we have been fortunate enough to do that. We are going to enjoy this and start getting ready for the playoffs."

Huntingdon quarterback Landon Cotney accounted for 240 yards and three touchdowns. The Hawks had seven rushing touchdowns, with Cotney, Troy Garner and Khalil Nettles each scoring twice. The other rushing touchdown came from Jalen Pugh.

Huntingdon’s defense had five sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Toby Martin had six tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.

The Hawks will play in the NCAA Division III playoffs. They will find out their path on Sunday afternoon.

RHODES COLLEGE 20, BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN 3: Offensive struggles kept the Panthers from winning the regular season finale on the road. The loss also cost the Panthers a shot at making the NCAA Division III playoffs as an at-large selection.

Birmingham-Southern gained 289 yards in total offense, were 3 of 13 on third down, and failed on fourth down all four times. Running back Jon Lewis rushed for 127 yards on 24 carries but was held out of the end zone. Birmingham-Southern punted five times, and the only points came on a 26-yard field goal by Zach Ford in the first half.

Birmingham-Southern's defense only allowed the Lynx to gain 290 yards. Connor West had 10 tackles and Jimmy Anderson had eight tackles, two tackles for loss and an interception.

UNIVERSITY OF PIKEVILLE 36, FAULKNER 22: Pikeville's first four possessions ended with three turnovers and a turnover on downs. One of the turnovers was a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown by Faulkner's Jerrell Williamson. After that, though, the Bears were in control.

Faulkner quarterbacks threw four interceptions, with Ben Anderson throwing three of them. Backup quarterback Raequan Beal was effective, completing 15-of-21 passes for 187 yards. De'Marcus Johnson had seven catches for 102 yards.

Faulkner finished the season with a 4-7 record.

FLORIDA A&M 21, ALABAMA STATE 14: The Hornets lost a heartbreaker to a Florida A&M team that won for the eighth consecutive time. Alabama State lined up for a 52-yard field goal on the final play of the game, trailing by a point. However, Jayden John's attempt was blocked by the Rattlers' Kendall Bohler, who then scooped the ball up and ran 51 yards to provide the final margin.

Alabama State sophomore defensive back Cail Jackson Jr. had a pair of red zone interceptions and a 50-yard touchdown return after a blocked punt by Tyree Saunders. Jackson's return gave Alabama State a 14-9 lead with 7:46 left.

Florida A&M responded with a nine-play, 59-yard drive that ended with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Moussa to Jah'ma Sheread with 4:20 left. The two-point conversion failed, and FAMU led 15-14.

Alabama State linebacker Colton Adams had a game-high 15 tackles, marking the fourth time this season he's reached double digits in tackles and moves him to 104 tackles on the season.

DELTA STATE 17, WEST ALABAMA 7: The teams played for the second time this season, with Delta State collecting its second win over the Tigers. But West Alabama made life difficult for a Delta State team that finished the regular season 10-1 and is headed to the Division II playoffs.

The West Alabama defense played well against a Delta State offense that averaged 500 yards and 44 points per game. The Statesmen managed just 254 yards on Saturday, with just 86 of that coming on the ground. West Alabama linebacker Michael Anderson had 11 tackles.

Unfortunately, for the Tigers, the offense only managed one touchdown. That came late in the third quarter on a 7-yard pass from Tucker Melton to Dalton Bailey for the final points of the game.  

JACKSON STATE 27, ALABAMA A&M 13: Jackson State improved to 2-0 in the state of Alabama with the victory over the Bulldogs in the Gulf Coast Classic at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Shedeur Sanders threw for 183 yards and four touchdowns in the win.

Alabama A&M running back Donovan Eaglin rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown.

SOUTH ALABAMA 38, TEXAS STATE 21: Quarterback Carter Bradley powered the Jaguars to the Sun Belt Conference win. The Jaguars kept pace with Troy in the Sun Belt Conference West Standings, but the Trojans own the tiebreaker.

Bradley, who has been in a short slump, was 20 of 34 for 274 yards with four touchdowns. Devin Voisin had six receptions for 118 yards with touchdowns of 41 and 28 yards. Caullin Lacy and DJ Thomas-Johns also had touchdown receptions.

South Alabama (8-2 overall, 5-1 SBC) was limited to 106 rushing yards on 39 carries. Defensively, South Alabama held Texas State to 230 yards on 67 plays. Trey Kiser had 10 tackles with three tackles for loss. James Miller had seven tackles, a sack, and two tackles for loss.

TENNESSEE TECH 35, UNA 27: Running back ShunDerrick Powell became the program's all-time leading single-season rusher with one game left to play. Powell, a sophomore, has 1,467 yards, which is one more than Tyrone Rush had during 14 games in 1993. Powell carried the ball 31 times for 151 yards with a touchdown on Saturday.

UNA came up short despite compiling 505 yards in offense. Quarterback Noah Walters was 21-of-36 passing for 333 yards with touchdown passes of 39 yards to Takairee Kenebrew and 31 yards to Demarcus Lacey.

UNA fell to 1-9 and has just one more opportunity to give interim head coach Ryan Held. UNA closes the season at Memphis next week.

To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email steve.irvine@1819news.com.

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