FINAL STATS  |  PHOTO GALLERY

LAKE CHARLES, La. – Three wins now stand between Jacksonville State and the 2013 Football Championship Subdivision title.

The Gamecocks' defense continued its stellar play in the postseason, sacking No. 6 McNeese State's quarterback a school-record 11 times in a 31-10 victory at Cowboy Stadium Saturday night.

The 20th-ranked Gamecocks (11-3) advance to next week's quarterfinals at No. 3 Eastern Washington (11-2), a 41-17 winner over South Dakota State in another second-round matchup.

The march to the FCS quarterfinals continues JSU's deepest advance in the NCAA playoffs since winning the 1992 Division II national championship. Its 11 wins are the most by a Gamecock squad since the '92 season.

"Going into any game against a great opponent, you never really expect to come out and play as well as we did," said Jacksonville State head coach Bill Clark. "Our defense played well in the first half time after time against a great offense.

"It was just a great effort by our coaches and players to come on the road and win against a real quality opponent."

McNeese State, which defeated Jacksonville State seven straight times from 1997-2003 when both teams were Southland Conference members, ends its season at 10-3.

Junior DaMarcus James ran 24 times for 127 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Gamecocks. He became Jacksonville State's all-time single-season rushing leader and now stands at 1,431 yards, surpassing Rondy Rodgers previous record of 1,417 yards in 2001.

James has now run for a touchdown in 11 straight games and now has 28 TDs in 2013.

The Cowboys entered the playoff showdown as the fourth-highest scoring team in FCS at 42.5 points per game while rolling up 464 yards per outing. JSU's ball-hawking defense kept McNeese State out of the end zone until just over 10 minutes remained in the fourth quarter.

McNeese State was limited to 255 total yards.

Jacksonville State scored 14 points off turnovers in the first half and sacked McNeese State quarterback Cody Stroud seven times to build a 21-0 lead at intermission. It marked the second straight week JSU had held a playoff opponent scoreless in the first half – the Gamecocks led Samford 38-0 at halftime in the first round.

Jacksonville State silenced the McNeese State crowd early by scoring on its first play from scrimmage after Ketrick Wolfe intercepted Stroud at the Cowboys' 19.

Eli Jenkins found Josh Barge in the end zone on first down and Griffin Thomas tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 JSU lead with less than two minutes elapsed.

"That was just a really good start for us," said Clark. "We capitalized on the turnover early with a big pass play right off. It was a good first half for us. It started with the defense and the offense played well."

Jenkins hooked up with Telvin Brown for a 46-yard completion early in the second quarter and James carried the load the rest of the way, covering the final 30 yards on four carries.

His 1-yard run and Thomas' second PAT made it 14-0 at the 12:52 mark in the second quarter.
Another McNeese State turnover led to the Gamecocks' next score when Pierre Warren picked off Stroud and returned it 19 yards to the Cowboys' 31.

Jenkins sprinted 30 yards on first down and James finished off the drive with a 1-yard dive on fourth-and-goal. Thomas' kick extended JSU's lead to 21-0 with 1:53 left before the half.

Thomas kicked a 39-yard field goal late in the third quarter to become the Ohio Valley Conference's all-time record holder for field goals with 23.

POSTGAME NOTES
- Captains for the Gamecocks: LB Rashad Smith, OL Taylor Johnstone, LB Robert Gray.
- JSU won the toss and deferred to the 2nd half.
- The Gamecocks are now 17-12 all-time in postseason games and are 2-3 in the FCS playoffs. They are 1-1 in the second round.
- The win over No. 6 McNeese State was JSU's 10th win over FCS ranked foes in its Division I history and its the second-highest ranked team its beaten (#3 Northwestern State in 2002. JSU is now 3-2 vs. FCS ranked foes under Bill Clark and 10-38 all-time.
- DaMarcus James ran for 127 yards in the win to run his season total to 1,431, breaking Rondy Rogers' school record of 1,417 set in 2001.
- DaMarcus James' 127 yards on the ground is the third-straight 100-yard game for the junior and the eighth this season. It is his 13th career 100-yard rushing game.
- The Gamecocks recorded a school-record 11 sacks in the win, three more than the previous school record of 8 set twice (vs Samford on 10/17/98 and vs. Tenn St on 10/16/04).
- After recording the school-record 11 sacks in tonight's game, the JSU Defense now has 50 sacks on the year, adding to the school record already set last week.
- With his 39-yard Field Goal with 3:22 left in the third quarter, senior Griffin Thomas breaks former kicker and current JSU strength and conditioning coach Gavin Hallford's JSU and OVC record of 22 set in 2007.
- Freshman Joshua Barge had two catches for 33 yards in the game, running his season total to 52 catches for 790 yards. His 52 catches ranks fifth all-time on JSU's single-season list, while his 790 yards rank eighth. Both are JSU freshman records.
- In JSU's two playoff games, the Gamecocks have held its opponents to a combined 92 (17 by Samford and 75 by McNeese St) yards in the first half. They've also outscored their foes 59-0 (38-0 vs. Samford, 21-0 vs. McNeese State) in the first half.
- After outgaining the Cowboys 212-75 in the first half, JSU has now outgained its playoff foes 573-92 in its two playoff games (outgained Samford 361-17 in 1st round).
- The 19-yard TD pass from Jenkins to Barge on JSU's first offensive play marks the first time the Gamecocks have scored on its first offensive play since Sept. 27, 2003 vs. Eastern Kentucky.
- JSU's first touchdown with 13:09 left in the first quarter is the earliest score by a Gamecock team since Nov. 14, 2009, when Ryan Perrilloux scored on a 48-yard run with 13:24 on the first-quarter clock.
- Freshman Joshua Barge's 19-yard touchdown catch on the Gamecocks' first offensive play was the second of his career and his first since Nov. 9 at Eastern Kentucky.
- Ketrick Wolfe's interception early in the first quarter is the second of the season for the senior.
- Ben Endress' blocked punt in the first quarter is his third of the season, one shy of Taurean Rhetta's school-record 4 in 2007.
- Pierre Warren's second quarter interception is the fourth of the season for the junior and seventh of his career.
- The Gamecocks have now run for 3,379 yards this season passing the 1990 team for the fifth-highest total rushing yards in a season in school history.

BY THE NUMBERS
1 - Plays it took the JSU offense to score, 1st time since Sept. 27, 2003 vs. EKU that's happened.
3 - Sacks in the game each by junior LB Dustin Gayton and senior LB Robert Gray, who had 3.5 and 1.5, respectively in JSU's first 13 games of the season.
6 - Times DaMarcus James has ran for at least three TDs in the last 11 games.
11 - Sacks by the Gamecocks in the game,, three more than the previous school record of eight set twice before (vs Samford on 10/17/98 and vs. Tenn St on 10/16/04).
11 - Consecutive games in which DaMarcus James has scored at least one touchdown run.
11 - Wins by the Gamecocks, the most by a JSU team since the 1992 Div. II National Championship team won 12.
11 - Win by JSU under Bill Clark this season, tying Jim Fuller (11-3 in 1977) for the most wins in a debut season with JSU.
28 - Rushing TDs by DaMarcus James this season, adding to his school and OVC record total.
166 - Consecutive carries without a fumble by DaMarcus James before his second quarter fumble. His last was at UT Martin on 481 - Number of yards of total offense JSU has outgained its two Playoff foes by (573-92) in the first half.
10/6/13.
1431 - rushing yards by DaMarcus James this season, breaking Rondy Rogers school record for rushing yards in a season of 1417 set in 2001.