South Alabama dominated the first 30 minutes, eventually emerging with an impressive 38-24 road victory at Central Michigan on Saturday.

Quarterback Carter Bradley returned to a MAC stadium after spending the past four seasons at Toledo. Bradley was 26-of-42 for 339 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. His scoring tosses, all of which came in the first half, went to Jalen Wayne (10 yards,) Devin Voisin (22 yards) and Damarcus Thomas (16 yards). Wayne was the team’s top receiver with 10 catches for 98 yards.

South Alabama led, 31-10, at halftime. Neither team scored in the third quarter. The Jaguars extended the lead with 10:53 left on a 30-yard burst by La’Damian Webb. It was Webb’s second touchdown of the game on a day when he had 20 carries for 91 yards.

The Jaguars defense allowed 368 yards with 157 of those yards coming on late touchdown drives by Central Michigan. The Jaguars had three sacks, six tackles for loss and recovered a fumble. Central Michigan had just 81 rushing yards.

TROY 38, ALABAMA A&M 17: It took almost an entire half for the Trojans to get going. Once they did, they gave Jon Sumrall his first win as a college head coach in dominating fashion.

“I never will apologize for a win," said Sumrall in a release by Troy media relations. "Not the way we wanted it to happen. Extremely grateful for our fans. The turnout was really good. Part of what makes Troy so special is the fanbase and Trojan Walk today was special. Glad to see our guys get the win. I can promise you this; I am going to get it fixed. When we don't play well, that's on me. I need to get the players prepared to start faster. We have a streak of tough matchups with Marshall and App State, and if we want to beat those teams, we have to start fast. I want to be happy for the win, but we have a lot to work on, and I'm hungry to see just how good we can get."

Alabama A&M took a 3-0 lead on a 47-yard field goal by Zach Alvarez late in the first quarter. That lead held up until RaJae’ Johnson-Sanders scored on a 12-yard pass from Gunnar Watson with 38 seconds remaining in the first half.

Watson came out hot in the second half, throwing three touchdown passes in the third quarter as the Trojans pulled away. Touchdown receptions came by Deyunkre Lewis (40 yards), Jabre Barber (59 yards) and Des Stoudemire (13 yards).

Watson was 23-of-34 for 351 yards but also was intercepted twice and sacked two times. Jarrett Doege was 5-of-11 for 113 yards with a touchdown. The Trojans struggled running the ball once again, gaining just 58 yards on 25 carries.

GEORGIA 33, SAMFORD 0: Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett threw for 300 yards to lead his team to 30 first half points in the decisive victory. Georgia scored on every one of its first half possessions with three touchdowns and three field goals.

Samford quarterback Michael Hiers was 13-of-21 for 62 yards. Samford managed just 19 rushing yards. Defensive back Isaiah Richardson had 11 tackles for Samford.

“I thought our effort was good,” Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said in a release by Samford media relations. “We lacked execution, some of that had to do with how good they were. I think we got something we can build off, heading into the rest of the season.”

UCLA 45, ALABAMA STATE 7: Myles Cawley started at quarterback in Alabama State’s loss to the Bruins (2-0) in the Rose Bowl. Cawley finished 16-of-27 for 177 yards with a 21-yard touchdown to Jeremiah Hixon in the second quarter. He also threw an interception.

The Hornets (2-1) struggled to stop the UCLA offense. The Bruins, who led, 31-7, at halftime, threw for 265 yards and rushed for 220 yards.

JACKSONVILLE STATE 34, MURRAY STATE 3: Redshirt sophomore Anwar Lewis was the star for the Gamecocks in the convincing win over the Racers. The 5-foot-8, 180-pound Lewis, a JUCO transfer, carried the ball 17 times for 184 yards with touchdown carries of 1, 46 and 64 yards.

Lewis led a rushing attack that collected 388 yards and averaged 9.2 yards per carry. Ron Wiggins had two carries for 88 yards with an 83-yard touchdown run to close the game’s scoring. Quarterback Zion Webb threw for 167 yards but he was intercepted twice.

Jacksonville State led 10-3 at halftime. The Gamecocks (3-0) dominated the second half and limited the Racers (0-2) to 267 total yards. Linebacker Markail Benton had eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack for a defense that had eight tackles for loss and three sacks.

HUNTINGDON 38, BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN 35

Huntingdon quarterback Landon Cotney was 23-of-30 for 317 yards with a touchdown. Running back Kahari McReynolds had 24 carries for 210 yards with three touchdowns. Wide receiver Tyler England had eight catches for 117 yards. Huntingdon had 606 yards in offense.

Birmingham-Southern (1-1) took a 29-23 lead with 1:50 left in the third quarter on a 78-yard run by quarterback Matt McClary. Huntingdon regained the lead with 7:16 left on a 28-yard run by McReynolds. The Panthers answered three minutes later on a 5-yard run by Jon Lewis.

All of that set up a fantastic finish with the Hawks (1-1) using eight plays to drive 70 yards, taking 2:53 off the clock. The winning score came on a 13-yard pass from Cotney to Kyler Chaney.

Lewis had 104 rushing yards with a touchdown. McClary threw for 267 yards with scoring passes of 35 yards and 68 yards to Branden Rew.

WEST ALABAMA 31, MILES COLLEGE 0: Quarterback Tucker Melton was sensational, throwing for 400 yards, four touchdowns and completing passes to 10 different receivers. John Hilbert had six catches for 146 yards with two touchdowns.

It was a forgettable evening for the Miles College offense. They gained 161 totals yards, rushed for 72 yards on 35 carries, punted 11 times and were 1 of 16 on third down.

“Proud of the growth we made as a team between game one and game two,” said West Alabama coach Brett Gilliland said in a West Alabama media release. “It is always good to get a shutout on defense and big plays on offense. We played a much cleaner second half and that was good to see. Now it’s time to clean up the mistakes and continue to make improvement for a game in Tiger Stadium.”

HAMPTON 42, TUSKEGEE 10: Tuskegee got little going offensively and turned the ball over three times in the first half during the convincing victory for the Pirates.

Tuskegee quarterback Ryan Nettles threw the three interceptions in the first half before sitting down. Bryson Williams came in and was 10-of-12 for 89 yards with a touchdown pass to Keynon Webb (10 catches for 103 yards).

The Tigers managed just 26 rushing yards and 175 yards overall. Hampton had 402 yards in total offense.

UNA 49, UVA WISE 17: ShunDerrick Powell set a school record with 251 yards rushing, besting the previous mark of 248 yards, set by Tyrone Rush in 1993.

Powell had touchdown runs of 75, 7, 31 and 41 yards. Overall, he carried the ball 20 times and averaged nearly 13 yards per carry. Saturday’s rushing total was more than the 5-foot-7, 168-pound sophomore had in his career. He entered with 234 yards on 50 carries, including 20 carries for 80 yards in the season-opening overtime loss at Indiana State.

Powell’s first touchdown, the 75-yard sprint, came with UNA trailing the Division II team, 14-0, early in the second quarter.

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

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