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JACKSONVILLE – Senior Ryan Perrilloux rushed for a career-high 115 yards and threw for 191 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns to lead No. 15 Jacksonville State to a 34-26 win over Eastern Kentucky in the season-finale for both teams on Saturday.

With the win, the Gamecocks finish with an 8-3 overall record and with the best record in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 6-1 mark. Eastern Kentucky finishes with a 5-6 record as the Colonels finished with their first losing record in 31 years.

Perrilloux etched his name in the Jax State record books during the afternoon after setting single-season school records for passing touchdowns (23), touchdowns responsible for (31), total offense per game (279.3) and total offense per play (8.36). He also finished his two-year career as Jax State's career leader in passing yards per game (222.3) and total offense per game (260.9) and had a career passing efficiency of 154.9.

After Eastern Kentucky took a 3-0 lead on an 18-yard field goal with 11:07 left, the Gamecocks took a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter after Perrilloux scored his eighth rushing touchdown of the year on a 20-yard run to give Jax State a 7-3 lead.

Eastern took a 10-7 lead after T.J. Pryor tossed a 13 yard pass to Garnett Phelps with 10:28 left in the second, but the Gamecocks answered after Calvin Middleton scored on a an eight-yard run to give JSU a 14-10 lead.

The Colonels battled back to take a 17-14 lead after Pryor tossed a 13-yard pass to Shannon Davis with 2:28 left in the second quarter, but the Gamecocks took the lead for good after Middleton scored his second touchdown on the day on a six-yard run with 1:17 left in the half. Middleton finished the game with 98 yards on 16 carries as JSU rushed for 240 yards on the afternoon.

O'Connor kicked a 40-yard field goal with just 18 seconds left in the quarter for the Colonels to cut the deficit to 21-20 at the half.

The Gamecocks pushed the lead to 24-20 after Patrick Tatum kicked a 20-yard field goal in the third quarter, and JSU extended the lead after Perrilloux tossed a 15-yard pass to Alan Bonner early in the fourth quarter. That pass set the single-season school record with 23 touchdown passes, to break Ed Lett's 1982 record of 22.

Eastern Kentucky cut the lead to 31-26 after C.J. Walker scored on a one-yard run, but the try for two failed with 8:04 left in the game. Walker led the Colonels offense with 133 yards on 13 carries with one touchdown.

Tatum then kicked a 23-yard field goal with 3:31 left to extend the Gamecocks' lead to 34-26 and the Jax State defense forced a fumble on fourth down with less than a minute to play on fourth down to secure the Gamecocks second consecutive eight-win season.

Perrilloux's 191 yards on Saturday, moving him into fifth on the school's career passing yards list. He finishes his Gamecock career with 4,668 yards and 42 touchdowns in 21 career games played.

Alexander Henderson led the Gamecock defense with 14 tackles, the seventh consecutive game with double-digit tackles. He record 10-or more tackles in all seven OVC games in 2009 and leads the conference in tackles.

POST GAME NOTES
- Captains for the Gamecocks: Senior WR James Wilkerson, senior OL Reggie Wade, senior defensive lineman Brandt Thomas and senior linebacker Alexander Henderson.
- Eastern Kentucky won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
- The Gamecocks are now 4-3 all-time against the Colonels and are 2-2 against EKU in Jacksonville.
- JSU improves to 233-93-8 in games at Paul Snow Stadium and are 34-16 at home under Jack Crowe.
- The Gamecocks' first touchdown drive of the game, a two-play, 59-yard drive, was their seventh touchdown drive of the year of two plays or less.
- Ryan Perrilloux's 15-yard touchdown pass to Alan Bonner in the fourth quarter gave him 23 touchdown passes in 2009, breaking the school record of 22, previously held by Ed Lett.
- WIth his rushing touchdown and passing TD on Saturday, Ryan Perrilloux finished his career with 57 touchdowns accounted for, 15 rushing and 42 passing.
- Perrilloux's touchdown pass in Saturday's game give him 42 for his career, placing him third on the school's career list behind Montressa Kirby (43) and Edd Lett (61).
- Senior James Wilkerson's second catch of the game, a 22-yard pass from Perrilloux, gave him 100 catches for his career, making him the sixth player in school history to haul in 100 catches in a career. He finished his career with 100, placing him sixth on JSU's career receptions list. He also finishes fourth in JSU history with 1780 career receiving yards.
- Perrilloux threw for 191 yards on Saturday, moving past Doc Lett into fifth on the school's career passing yards list. He finishes his career with 4,477 yards passing.
- Perrilloux finishes the season with 2350 passing yards, which ranks third in school hitory.
- WIlkerson finishes the season with 716 yards receiving 8th-most in JSU history.
- Sophomore Calvin Middleton tied his career high for touchdowns in a game with two, equal to his mark against Tennessee State in the 2008 season finale.
- Senior Alexander Henderson's 14 tackles on Saturday gives him seven-straight games with double-digit tackles. He wraps ups his senior season with 115 tackles, 4th in school history. He finishes his career with 289 tackles, 3rd in school history.
- With 136 yards on Saturday, EKU's C.J. Walker became the first opposing player to run for 100 yards against the Gamecocks since Nov. 8, 2008 (APSU's Ryan White, 116 yds.). Walker's performance marked the most rushing yards against JSU since EIU's Ademola Adenji (158 on Nov. 10, 2007).
- Perrilloux has now thrown and ran for a touchdown in the same game six times this season and eight times as a Gamecock. He achieved the feat once in his career at LSU.
- Senior Ryan Perrilloux has now thrown at least one touchdown pass in 20 of his 21 games at JSU.

BY THE NUMBERS
289 - Career tackles by senior Alexander Henderson after his 3rds, ranking him xxth in school history.
23 - Touchdown passes by Ryan Perrilloux in 2009, a school record.
1780 - Career receiving yards by James Wilkerson after Saturday, 3rd sin JSU history.
7 - Consecutive games in which Alexander Henderson has recorded double digits in tackles.
133 - Yards rushing by EKU's C.J. Walker, the first 100-yard rusher against JSU since Nov. 1, 2008 (Ryan White, APSU, 116 yds.)
100 - Career receptions by senior James Wilkerson, making him the sixth player in school history to catch 100 passes.
100 - Consecutive games in which the Gamecocks have scored, a streak that dates back to Nov.18, 2000, when they were last shut out.