JACKSONVILLE - Tony Tompkins rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns and Zeke Dixon passed for 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Stephen F. Austin (5-3, 2-1 SLC) to a 36-28 win over Jacksonville State (4-4, 1-3) in front of 4,888 fans on Saturday.

"I told our team after the game, that we had lost our personality, somewhat. We lost touch with what we have to do, our style of play, what we have to do to win," said JSU head coach Jack Crowe. "I wasn't sure what the factors were.

"We were going to run the football and stop other people from running the football," said Crowe. "And, they popped some runs on us."

The Lumberjacks rolled up 512 yards of total offense, with 269 through the air and 243 on the ground.

SFA jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter after Cliff Edwards scored on a 5-yard run and Tompkins broke free on a 61-yard scoring run with :20 left in the first. Stephen Coker added the second extra point after missing the first.

Jax State cut the lead to 13-7 after freshman Maurice Mullins scored his first career touchdown on a 5-yard run at the 10:37 mark of the second. Steven Lee's point capped a four play, 29-yard drive that was set-up by the first of two Markee Coleman interceptions.

The Lumberjack answered by scoring the next 10 points, a Tompkins 39-yard run and a Coker 42-yard field goal with 3:08 remaining in the half as SFA built a 23-7 lead.

Jacksonville State's freshman kicker Nick Pope the kicked a 33-yard field goal with :20 left in the half to cut the lead to 23-10 at the intermission.

In the second half, the Gamecock defense came up big as DeWayne Cuffie broke through to block a Coker 45-yard field goal attempt and Coleman scooped up the ball and raced 65 yards for a Gamecock touchdown. Lee's extra point cut the Lumberjacks lead to 23-17 with 12:10 left in the third quarter. It was the fourth straight game the JSU defense had scored a touchdown.

With 6:43 remaining in the third quarter, Lee kicked a 32-yard field goal as the Gamecocks went 65 yards in nine plays, to pull within 23-20. But, SFA answered by pushing the lead to 29-20 after Dixon tossed a 3-yard pass to Paul Todd with 2:26 left in the third quarter.

The Lumberjacks then pushed the lead to 36-20 after Anthony Dingle caught a 36-yard touchdown from Dixon to cap a seven play, 76 yard drive for Stephen F. Austin. SFA had nine different receivers record a reception in the game.

Jacksonville State pulled to within a touchdown after Marcus Mitchell scored on a 1-yard run and Anthony Mayo scored the two-point conversion with 7:07 left, but the Gamecocks would get no closer. Mayo finished the game 14-of-32 for 128 yards.

The SFA defense held the Gamecocks after Maurice Daughtry returned a SFA punt to the `Jacks 20-yard line with less than six minutes to play and the Gamecocks failed to score after Mullins was stopped on a quarterback draw on fourth and goal from the 20.

Jacksonville State travels to face Southwest Texas State next Saturday, while SFA returns home to host No. 2 McNeese State.



Jacksonville State vs Stephen F. Austin
POST-GAME NOTES

Senior Markee Coleman recorded his team-high third and fourth interceptions of the season during the first half. It now was his seven career interceptions. It marks the first time a JSU player had two interceptions in a game since Nov. 24, 2001, vs McNeese State when Coleman also had two interceptions.

Senior DeWayne Cuffie blocked his first kick of the season and Markee Coleman recovered and raced 65 yards to cut the lead to 23-17 at the 12:10 mark of the third quarter.

Markee Coleman scored his second defensive touchdown of the season at the 12:10 mark of the third quarter. Coleman returned an interception 53 yards for a touchdown.

The last time the Gamecocks returned a blocked kick (or punt) for a touchdown was at Northern Iowa on Sept. 18, 1993, when Darron Edwards returned a blocked punt 52 yards for a touchdown. That's a string of 100 consecutive games and 396 quarters of play.

The Jax State defense has now returned an opponent turnover for a touchdown in four consecutive games. Against Samford, DeWayne Cuffie scored a touchdown in the endzone off a fumble, the next week vs Sam Houston State, Markee Coleman returned a Bearkat interception 53 yards for a touchdown. Last week vs McNeese State, Cuffie returned a fumble 53 yards for a touchdown and Coleman returned a blocked kick 65 yards for a score.

Freshman Maurice Mullins entered the game at quarterback at the 2:50 mark of the first quarter. It marked the second time Mullins has played quarterback this season, with his other appearance at Mississippi State.

Maurice Mullins scored his first career touchdown on a 5-yard run at the 10:33 mark of the second quarter.

Freshman kicker Nick Pope scored his first career points when he kicked a 33-yard fieldgoal with :20 left in the second quarter.

Sophomore All-American punter Richie Rhodes tied his season-long punt with a 59 yard punt in the first quarter. He finished the game with a 45.8 yard average on six punts. His career-best day is seven punts for 50.4 yards vs Southwest Texas State on Oct. 20, 2001.

Kick return specialist Maurice Daughtry, making just his second career start at returning kicks, finished the game with seven kick returns for 190 yards. It was the best performance by a Gamecock in that department this season.

Jax State allowed the longest touchdown runs of the season when SFA scored on a 61 and 39 yard run during the first half.

Jax State was just 1-for-6 on 3rd down conversions in the first quarter and now just 4-for-27 on 3rd downs during the first 15 minutes of the game

The Gamecock defense still has not allowed a rushing touchdown in the third quarter this season and just 20 points. JSU has outscored the opponents 57-20 during the third and the opponents have scored on two passing touchdowns (at Mississippi State). Nicholls State returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown.

JSU allowed 500 yards or more of total offense for the second time this season. Tennessee Tech finished with 565 total yards.

Jarvis Houston posted a career-best 81 receiving yards on seven receptions.