JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State erupted for three touchdowns in a seven-minute span to conclude the first half en route to a 49-14 win over Pioneer Football League champion Davidson in the first round of the FCS playoffs at Burgess-Snow Field.

The fourth-seeded Gamecocks (10-2) advance to the FCS quarterfinals for the first time since 2015. Davidson, making its first postseason appearance since 1969, finished with a 4-3 record.

The 35-point margin of victory was Jacksonville State's biggest in postseason play since thrashing Sam Houston State 62-10 in the 2015 national semifinals.

"The last few minutes of the second quarter broke the game open," said Jacksonville State head coach John Grass. "The drive to go up two scores was a huge drive, especially after we converted on second-and-35. Then to get the pooch kick and score that easy touchdown was really big for us.

"Any time you survive and advance in the playoffs it's a good day. The atmosphere was a little bit different without the band or cheerleaders, but the limited crowd was great."

Jacksonville State averaged 13 yards per play and accumulated 273 total yards in building a 28-7 lead by halftime. Any momentum the run-oriented Wildcats had established came to an abrupt halt just before intermission when Zion Webb scored on a one-yard quarterback draw to extend the Gamecocks' lead to 21-7 with 40 seconds remaining.

JSU's Demarco Price recovered the ensuing short kickoff at Davidson's 22. Webb immediately connected with receiver Michael Pettway on a 22-yard touchdown strike with 33 seconds left and Alen Karajic tacked on the extra point for a 21-point lead at the break.

The 14 points scored in seven seconds set a Jacksonville State school record and crushed the Wildcats' hopes of staying within striking distance.

"That last five minutes the game just got away from us," said Davidson coach Scott Abell. "We couldn't afford that at the end of the half and made it very difficult for us."

Webb threw touchdown passes of 55 yards to Pat Jackson and 22 yards to Pettway in addition to his second-quarter rushing TD. Josh Samuel and Uriah West each had a touchdown run in the first half.

Samuel's one-yard run gave JSU an early 7-0 lead after Webb had raced a career-long 67 yards on the previous play.  West's six-yard run at the 7:03 mark in the second quarter capped off an eight-play, 86-yard drive that was set up by Logan McVay's 34-yard reception deep into Davidson territory.

The Wildcats entered the contest as the FCS leader in rushing offense at 293.8 yards per game. They finished with 202 on the ground, becoming the first JSU opponent in the last 10 games to rush for more than 100 yards.

But Davidson's aerial attack was essentially a non-factor as quarterback Tyler Phelps completed just seven passes for 59 yards. The FCS leader in third-down conversions at 56% was limited to only 6-of-18 by the Gamecock defense.

West finished with a game-high 76 yards and added his second rushing touchdown on a one-yard run in the third quarter. Jackson also found the end zone a second time with a one-yard run in the fourth quarter for Jacksonville State's final points.

Davidson kept possession for 42 minutes to Jacksonville State's 18 and ran 79 plays to the Gamecocks' 43. JSU, however, averaged 10.7 yards per play and outgained Davidson 461-261.

Safety Jeremiah Harris recorded a career-high 12 tackles to lead the Gamecocks' defensive effort. Linebacker Markail Benton contributed 10 stops.

The Gamecocks' FCS quarterfinal opponent will be the winner between Colonial Athletic Association automatic qualifier Delaware (5-0) and Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart (3-1).

The date and time for next week's game – likely at Burgess-Snow Field – will be announced later. 

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Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – Davidson
April 24, 2021 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.

• JSU Captains: senior redshirt-junior Jacquez Peyton and redshirt-sophomore Tylan Grable.
• Davidson won the coin toss and elected to receive. It was the first time all season the winner did not choose to defer during a JSU game.
• Attendance: 5,326 (6,000 capacity per NCAA 25-percent policy)
• The Gamecocks are now 22-18 all-time in the NCAA Playoffs and advance to the quarterfinal round of the Division I FCS Playoffs for the third time overall, and first since 2015.
• JSU advances to meet the winner of tonight's second round FCS matchup between Delaware and Sacred Heart.  
• The 49 points scored by JSU were the most all the season for the Gamecocks, and marked the most in a playoff game since scoring 58 in the 2015 quarterfinals against Charleston Southern.
• With a 10-2 mark, JSU ties The Citadel as the only FCS program to play 12 games during the 2020-21 season, and will lead all other programs with their 13th contest next weekend.
• Jacksonville State is the eighth Division I team to reach double-digit wins this season, joining Alabama, BYU, Coastal Carolina, Clemson, Notre Dame, Louisiana and Liberty.
• Redshirt-junior Zion Webb had his longest rush of the season (67 yards) and nearly his longest completion of the year with a 58-yarder to Jayson Jones as the Phenix, City, Ala., native accounted for 307 yards of total offense and three scores.
• Sophomore running back Uriah West had two touchdowns and 76 yards on 12 carries for his first game with multiple rushing scores since Sept. 8, 2018 when he had three on the ground against Mississippi Valley State.
• Redshirt-junior Jeremiah Harris and redshirt-junior Markail Benton each notched career-highs in tackles with 12 and 10, respectfully, to lead the Gamecock defense.
• Logan McVay hauled in his second-longest reception of the season with a 34-yard catch to setup JSU's go-ahead touchdown just before halftime. It was his longest since a 41-yarder in the season-opener at Florida State on Oct. 3.
• Pat Jackson's 55-yard touchdown reception on the third play of the second half was the longest of his career and resulted in his first receiving touchdown…he finished with two scores total after adding a one=yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.  
• Freshman Jayson Jones had just one catch for negative seven yards this season, but pulled down a 58-yarder in his only target of the game as one of four Gamecocks with a 30-yard or longer catch on Saturday.
• Facing a triple-option offense, JSU allowed more than 100 yards rushing for the first time in the last 10 games as Davidson gained 202 of its 261 total yards on the ground.

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Jacksonville State Postgame Quotes – Davidson
April 24, 2021 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.

Head Coach John Grass
Opening Quotes:
"It was a little bit of a different game day for us with the NCAA regulations, but we thought the limited fans we had were loud and affected the game. We knew coming into the game that it would take a series or two to adjust to their option offense. After that, I thought we did a good job defending it, keeping them out of the endzone and limiting the explosive plays. Hats off to Davidson but also to us. We played good enough to win today. We're going to put this one behind us now and find out who we play in the second round."
 
On adjusting to Davidson's offense
"There really weren't a lot of changes. We made a couple of adjustments at halftime that I think helped us. I think it was more of the speed of the game that we had to adjust to. Getting used to it during the first couple of drives really helped us and in the second half we were able to settle down. We were able to get stops, capitalize on offense, and get touchdowns."
 
On Zion Webb's confidence following an interception
"I think he was fine. We worked on throwing the ball deep against their corners this week. I didn't think it was a poorly thrown ball. He threw it well and their corner played the ball really well. I think though he bounced back, commanded the offense and did a good job with it."
 
Zion Webb, Quarterback, Redshirt Junior
On responding after an interception
"Our quarterback room has a bad memory of when bad things have happened to us. So when something like that happens and we don't like the situation that we're in, we just have to bounce back and do better."
 
On getting the win and preparing for the second round
"We take it one round at a time and we're confident in what we do. If we come out and do what we do and play how we play, we should be taken care of."
 
Jeremiah Harris, Safety, Redshirt Junior
On recording a new single-game, career-high in tackles
"They just targeted me a lot and I went out and made plays. The coaches did a good job of helping me be prepared for this week, so I just went up against their offense and dominated."
 
On adjusting to Davidson's offense
"We went into halftime, adjusted a couple of our plays and the rest of it came from our ability to just run to the ball and do what we do."