JACKSONVILLE – No. 21 Jacksonville State forced a pair of turnovers and quarterback Zion Webb came off the bench to direct two scoring drives in a hard-fought 14-12 victory over Murray State at Burgess-Snow Field Saturday afternoon.
 
A sometimes-torrential rain and winds gusting at times in excess of 20 mph made for difficult conditions for both offenses. Webb threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Hester and ran 10 yards for his first touchdown of the season as the Gamecocks (6-3, 3-2 OVC) beat the Racers for the sixth straight time.
 
The Racers (4-5, 2-3) had a chance to win on the game's last play after rallying from a 14-point deficit late in the third quarter.
 
Zadden Webber, who missed his first two kicks but easily nailed a career-long 53-yard field goal with five minutes remaining, lined up a 52-yard attempt after Murray State drove from its 21 to JSU's 34. Following back-to-back Gamecocks timeouts, Webber's kick was short and right, setting off a raucous celebration as Jacksonville State kept alive its FCS playoff hopes.
 
"We almost gave it away there in the fourth quarter," said Jacksonville State head coach John Grass, "but I'm proud of our guys. It was a field position game. I thought our defense made some big plays, especially when they got in the red zone in the first half."
 
Webb, in his first action since Sept. 28, entered the game on the Gamecocks' third series and immediately had an impact. He connected with Hester for a 45-yard touchdown pass following a short Racers punt and Bryant Wallace kicked the extra point for a 7-0 JSU lead with 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
 
"We've missed Zion this year," Grass said. "He's been hurt and it's hampered him getting into games.
 
"He came in and gave us a spark in the first half that we needed. I thought he played well."
 
Hester's acrobatic touchdown catch was the 21^st of his Jacksonville State career, moving him into third place alone for career TD receptions and just two behind Joey Hamilton (1996-99) for second place.
 
The Gamecocks upped their lead to 14-0 in the second quarter as Webb led a seven-play, 77-yard scoring drive. His 23-yard scramble into Racers territory was the longest by a JSU quarterback this year and he finished off the drive with a 10-yard sprint to the end zone, his first touchdown of the season.
 
Webber missed a 41-yard field goal and Jeremiah Harris intercepted a Murray State pass at the 1 as Jacksonville State went to the locker room with a 14-0 lead at half.
 
Webb injured his ankle late in second quarter. He was replaced by starter Zerrick Cooper on the first series of the third quarter and did not return.
 
The Racers scored all their points in a 12½-minute span in the second half. Preston Rice had a short TD run to finish off a 97-yard drive, Murray State's defense recorded a safety and Webber kicked his 53-yarder to cut JSU's lead to 14-12.
 
The Racers outgained Jacksonville State 363-327. The Gamecocks attempted a season-low 18 passes in the wet conditions and Cooper's streak of 21 consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass came to an end.
 
Michael Matthews led JSU on the ground with 89 yards.
 
Yul Gowdy was credited with a season-high 10 tackles to lead the Gamecocks defensively.
 
Jacksonville State starts a key two-game road swing next Saturday when it travels to UT Martin to battle the OVC co-leading Skyhawks (5-3, 4-1) at Hardy M. Graham Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN+. 

---

---

Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – Murray State
October 26, 2019 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.

• JSU Captains: Senior safety Traco Williams, redshirt sophomore running back Michael Matthews, redshirt senior wide receiver Jamari Hester, senior defensive lineman Tyre McKinney.
•  Murray State won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
• Attendance: 10,786.
• JSU has now win six in a row over Murray State, picking up its eighth win over the Racers on the home turf. The Gamecocks moved to 15-2 all-time against MSU.
• Redshirt sophomore quarterback Zion Webb accounted for both of JSU's touchdowns in the contest with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Hester and a 10-yard rushing touchdown run. It's the fourth game of his career that he has thrown for a TD and rushed for a TD. The last time he accomplished that was last season versus Eastern Illinois on Oct. 13, 2018.
• Webb's 45-yard TD pass to Hester in the opening quarter was the longest pass of his career. Webb finished the contest with 79 rushing yards on 12 carries. He posted 74 yards on 2-of-6 passing.
• Redshirt senior wide receiver Jamari Hester earned his 21st career touchdown in JSU's first scoring drive of the game. Hester moved into third place on JSU's career TDs list. He is two TDs shy of matching former Gamecock Joey Hamilton (1996-99) for second place. Hester finished with a pair of catches for 74 yards. He now has a TD in back-to-back games for the second time this season (Chattanooga, Eastern Washington).
• Redshirt sophomore Jeremiah Harris thwarted a Racers' scoring drive with his first career interception.
• Sophomore running back Michael Matthews toted the ball 22 times, establishing a new career high. Matthews finished with 89 yards in the contest.
• Sophomore punter Jason Pierce registered a career-best 69-yard punt and averaged 46.6 yards per punt. Pierce pinned the Racers inside the 20-yard line on three of his five punts.
• The Jax State defense finished with double-digit tackles for a loss (10), including a pair of sacks. Sophomore DJ Coleman, who now has straight games with a sack, was one of four Gamecocks with a sack. Freshmen Jackson Luttrell and Kyle Holt recorded their first career sacks.

---

 Jacksonville State Postgame Quotes – Murray State
October 26, 2019 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.
 
Head Coach John Grass
Thoughts on the game
"Any time on a night like tonight that you can get a win, you have to feel good. We had to do a lot of things differently than we normally do, but we made our plays to win the game. We struggled on offense but played great red zone defense. We got up two scores but knew that the game wasn't going away. In the second half, it seemed like every time they had it, the rain would stop. Every time we had the ball, it rained sideways. We stayed alive and got a good win, though, and now we have to go on the road to face a good UT Martin team."
 
On the impact of Zion Webb
"The change of pace with him was huge. We needed something to spark our run game since tonight was not the night to throw, and we just had to try something different. If he wouldn't have gotten hurt he would have continued to play, but he just couldn't go in the second half."
 
On the growing faith in the kicking game
"It wasn't really the best weather to try Bryant Wallace, but it didn't bother him. He had a lot better week in practice, though, so I was very confident in him and making a run at trying to get the kick. His field goal try looked good, but he just pushed it a little bit to the right."
 
On playing in poor weather conditions
"You never know what is going to happen in these rain games on either side of the ball. Especially when it's that wet. It's just very unpredictable what is going for happen when the ball is that wet. It was the most rain I have played in for several years just with how constant it was."
 
Marlon Bridges, safety, redshirt senior
On the defense being depended on to make stops to win
"We love it when it's like that. I want the game to be in our hands every game. We just had to have everyone come together and have everyone do their jobs to win. We know that if we can do that and are able to get the stops that we need to get off the field."
 
Yul Gowdy, cornerback, redshirt sophomore
On finding the quarterback in the rain
"My job was to look at the receiver, get in a good position and then find the quarterback. I wasn't hardly ever looking at the quarterback."
 
Michael Matthews, running back, redshirt sophomore
On running the read option with Zion Webb
"He can really run the ball, and he will pull the ball and run a little more than I would like. But when he does pull it, he does what he needs to do, and I really feel that he makes the right decision. I have full trust in him to make the make the right read and do his job correctly."
 
Jeremiah Harris, safety, redshirt sophomore
On the impact of rain in the second half
"It was horrible. Everyone was cold and ready to get off the field, but we had to go out and do what we had to do. We were glad when it rained and their kicker came out at the end. We were hoping it got harder and harder, and coach Grass calling timeouts really helped to put the pressure on."