JACKSONVILLE – No. 16 Jacksonville State appeared all but done. Finished. Game over.

Except the showdown against No. 4 Eastern Washington wasn't and the resilient Gamecocks weren't.

Jacksonville State overcame a 21-point deficit for the first time since the historic 2010 Ole Miss upset to claim a 49-45 win over the Eagles before a Band Day crowd of 20,901 at Burgess-Snow Field.

Michael Matthews' 1-yard touchdown plunge with a tick under one minute remaining gave the Gamecocks their first and only lead, and cornerback Yul Gowdy sealed the win moments later with an interception that set off a raucous celebration throughout the stadium. Eastern Washington was the highest-ranked opponent Jacksonville State defeated since 2002.

"What a great win for our football team," said Jacksonville State head coach John Grass. "It was a great, classic game. I'm just so proud of the guys. Never give up on a Gamecock until he takes his last breath."

The Gamecocks (2-1) marched 73 yards in 11 plays in the final minutes to complete the comeback. Zerrick Cooper had crucial completions to Josh Pearson for 29 yards and Trae Berry for 19 more into the red zone. Cooper then scrambled seven yards to the EWU 3 and Matthews plunged in behind the right side of the line two plays later. Bryant Wallace's seventh and final PAT made it 49-45.

Jacksonville State scored the game's last 21 points, with Cooper sprinting in from 15 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter to ignite the rally.
Matthews then ran in from the 3 with 5:55 to go to pull the Gamecocks to within 45-42. That drive was set up by a partially-blocked punt, giving JSU possession at Eastern Washington's 13.

"We talked about getting the game to the fourth quarter and that our conditioning would be an advantage," Grass said. "I thought we would be able to withstand the heat and that was a big factor."

The Eagles (1-2) led 35-21 at halftime as quarterback Eric Barriere had his way against the Gamecocks' secondary with four touchdown passes.

Dre' Sonte Dorton had staked Eastern Washington to a quick lead by returning the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown – the first time a JSU opponent had scored on the opening kickoff since Pittsburg (Kan.) State did so in the 1992 NCAA Division II National Championship Game.

"Just because you score 35 points in the first half doesn't mean you are going to duplicate it in the second half," said Eastern Washington head coach Aaron Best. "Every position was giving everything they had – we just couldn't squeeze enough out of the football tonight for 60 minutes.

"We controlled the game for about 57 minutes, but 57 minutes isn't the entirety of a ballgame. We will get better and this game will not define us."

Zerrick Cooper accounted for four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) and senior safety Marlon Bridges returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown after EWU had opened a 28-7 lead through one quarter. The pick-six was the third of Bridges' storied career.

Jamari Hester, Josh Pearson and Matthews each had a touchdown catch. Hester and Pearson moved into a third-place tie on JSU's all-time career touchdown reception list at 19.
Hester was the Gamecocks' top receiver with 133 yards on five catches. Cooper completed 14-of-31 passes for 249 yards and was intercepted once.

Traco Williams was Jacksonville State's leading tackler with 10 stops. Bridges added nine tackles in addition to his interception.

The Gamecocks and Eagles are scheduled to meet again in Cheney, Wash., in 2021.
The Gamecocks will be at home next week against longtime Gulf South Conference rival North Alabama, which now competes in the Big South Conference. JSU leads the all-time series 25-18-3 and this year's matchup is the first with both teams FCS members.

Kickoff at Burgess-Snow is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be available on ESPN+.

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Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – Eastern Washington
September 14, 2019 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.

• JSU Captains: Senior DE Tre' Threat, R-Senior WR Jerad Washington, R-Senior QB Dalton Etheridge and Senior SAF Traco Williams.
• JSU won the toss and deferred to the second half.
• Attendance: 20,901.
• The game was delayed 35 minutes due to lightning in the area…kickoff was pushed back to 3:35 p.m.
• JSU evened the series 1-1 with the Eagles.
• The Gamecocks have now won 30 consecutive regular season home games, dating back to October 2013. Head coach John Grass is now 28-0 at home during the regular season since taking over as head coach in 2014.
• The 21-point, come-from-behind win matches JSU's comeback win over Ole Miss to open the 2010 season.
• Jax State now has its second home win over a top-five program since downing No. 3 Northwestern State in 2002.
• Redshirt senior Jamari Hester posted his second touchdown of the season and the 19th of his career. Hester is now four TD catches away from matching Joey Hamilton's record of 23. He finished with five catches for 133 yards. It's his sixth 100-plus receiving-yard game of his career and the first since a career high 146 yards on seven grabs against Austin Peay last season (9/28/19). 
• It's the second week in a row that a Gamecock accumulated 100-plus receiving yards as Trae Barry finished with 151 yards last week.
• Redshirt junior quarterback Zerrick Cooper tossed three touchdown passes against the Eagles, which is the 14th time he has thrown multiple TDs in a game. It is also the seventh consecutive game in which Cooper has thrown multiple TDs, dating back to the Tennessee State game on Nov. 10, 2018. Cooper now has 39 career passing TDs, ranking him sixth on the program's career TD passes chart.
• Cooper also finished with a career-best 88 yards rushing, including his third rushing TD of the season. The redshirt junior finished 14-of-31 for 249 yards passing in the contest.
• Junior tight end Trae Barry's 19-yard catch on JSU's final drive moved him one yard shy of reaching 1,000 career receiving yards. When he reaches that career mark, he will join Jamari Hester and Josh Pearson.
• Redshirt senior safety Marlon Bridges led the Jax State defense with nine total tackles, including a career-high three stops for a loss. Bridges had an 11-yard sack and forced an Eagle fumble. He collected his ninth career interception in the second quarter with a 67-yard interception return for a touchdown. It was his second interception return for a touchdown in his career as he returned one 32 yards last season in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs against East Tennessee State.
• Senior safety Traco Williams tallied a career-high 10 tackles, including 1.5 stops for a loss.
• Redshirt sophomore Michael Matthews matched his career high in TDs in a game with two. Matthews' 1-yard run gave JSU the winning TD with 59 seconds left. His 3-yard run with 5:55 left to play put the Gamecocks within three points.
• Eastern Washington returned the opening kickoff 90 yards, the last time JSU allowed an opponent an opening kickoff return for touchdown Pittsburg State on Dec 12, 1992 (Ronald Moore, 99 yards). 

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Jacksonville State Postgame Quotes – Eastern Washington
September 14, 2019 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.
 
Head Coach John Grass
Thoughts on the game
"I'm very proud of our guys for beating a quality team. Eastern Washington is every bit of a top-five team that can play with anyone in the country. We've proved we can, too, but we still have a lot of growing to do. Our offensive line played so much better, as well as the defensive line making some big plays. I'm just proud of our guys for getting a good home win in a good atmosphere."
 
On overcoming the deficit on offense
"Our plan was to slow the game down. They play a fast and dynamic offense, so we wanted to slow it down on our offense. We didn't get to do that though, so we had to play fast with them. We were able to chip away and hang in there, though. Our conditioning and the humidity really helped us, and we just got to rolling in the fourth quarter.


On playing Eastern Washington
"They're just really good. Their quarterback makes throws, their receivers run good routes and they just execute really well. I think they have one of the top-three offenses that we've played since I've been here. We gave them too many explosive plays, but they're just a really good football team."
 
On motivating his team at the end of the first quarter
"I told them it's a long game and we've just got to keep chipping away at it and quit shooting ourselves in the foot. We felt like we were just serving it up to them, but I just told them just to keep playing and don't get down. That's why I'm so proud of our guys. It was just really good to see us keep fighting."
 
Zerrick Cooper, quarterback, redshirt junior
On the impact of the EWU win
"I personally think that was a statement game, the offense and defense were both up and down, but we were able to come together and pull out a win. I believe this game will take us far, but we've just got to keep moving this season."
 
Michael Matthews, running back, redshirt sophomore
On his go-ahead touchdown run
"I was just trying to get the ball into the endzone. Coach Grass talked all week about the will to win, and I was just trying to find the will to get into the endzone. All I can do is just give credit to the offensive linemen and our wide receivers for giving me the opportunity."
 
Marlon Bridges, safety, redshirt senior
On defensive adjustments
"There weren't really a whole lot of adjustments. We just knew going into the fourth quarter that we wanted the ball to be in our hands on defense and that we wanted to be the ones to win the game. I told the defense if we didn't let them score in the fourth quarter that we'd win the game. That's just what happened."
 
Yul Gowdy, Cornerback, Redshirt Sophomore
On his game-ending interception
"I had outside leverage on the receiver, but I had to help on the inside. Once I saw the quarterback throw the ball I knew I could go get it and made a play."