JACKSON
-- For three quarters Centre College gave Millsaps
all they could handle, trailing 9-7 late in the game, before
the Majors opened it up with three fourth quarter
touchdowns behind
junior quarterback Juan Joseph to win their sixth-straight
game at home.
The Majors
totaled 442 yards, however, they could not muster a touchdown
until
the final period, settling for
three field goals
from freshman kicker Taylor Russolino. Russolino’s three
field goals of 35, 34 and 38 yards tied the school’s single
game record.
Joseph, who
threw for a career high 475 yards last weekend completed 31-of-47
passes for 353 yards. His target-of-choice was junior Eric
McCarty, who broke the 100-yard plateau for the second consecutive
game,
hauling in nine passes for 164 yards.
The Millsaps
defense was nothing short of dominant again, limiting their
opponent
to less than 200 total yards for
the fourth time in
five games. The Colonels were stifled to 167 total yards, including
just 22 on the ground. Shawn Gillenwater, Casey Younger, Denarold
Anderson and Nick Presti recorded one sack apiece—the
Majors’ 16th sack in the last three games.
It
appeared as though the Majors would cruise to their 10th
consecutive SCAC victory, marching 34 yards to the Centre
12
on their opening
possession. A holding penalty, however, put the Majors in
a third-and-long and Joseph’s pass skipped just off the
hands of Raymece Savage setting up Russolino’s 35-yard
kick.
After forcing
the Colonels into a three-and-out, the Majors drove to the
Centre 15 after Joseph hit a streaking John Milazzo
for 16 yards. The drive abruptly ended, as running back Kenneth
Metzger coughed up the football after a hit by linebacker Adam
Hay.
The Colonels
finally picked up a first down with under three minutes remaining
in the first quarter; however,
their drive
soon stalled and the Majors quickly took the ball 60 yards thanks
to two big catches by McCarty for 27 yards. The Majors would
again settle for a Russolino field goal—this time from
34 yards out.
The Majors
would drive once more, behind a 26-yard strike to McCarty and
a key third down reception by Neil Woodall. Another
reception by McCarty for 11 yards put the Majors at the 24, nevertheless,
the Colonel defense forced the Majors back and Russolino connected
on a career-best 38 yard field goal.
The Colonels
responded just before the half, as backup quarterback Grant
Conliffe engineered a 77-yard drive
on 15 plays, converting
on four third downs and one fourth down. On the drive, Conliffe
and junior split end Tyler Hinkel hooked up three times for 31
yards, including a 13-yard reception with eight seconds remaining
in the half to cut the Majors’ lead to 9-7.
The third
quarter was a stalemate, as Millsaps was unable to score on
Centre’s “bend but don’t break” defense.
On their opening possession, the Majors drove 53 yards to the
Centre 11, thanks to a 22-yard reception by Burt Pereira. But
the Colonel defense came up with yet another big stop, as Joseph’s
fourth-and-three pass was batted away by Brian Sneed.
After being
forced to punt for the first time in the afternoon, the Major
offense got back on track with a 70-yard drive at the
end of the third quarter.
On the first play of the drive, Joseph
completed a 36-yard pass to McCarty inside the Centre 35. An
11-yard reception by Pereira and a 13-yard screen pass to Metzger
put the Majors inside the Centre 10-yardline for the first time
of the game. Facing another fourth down deep inside Colonel
territory,
the Majors cashed in this time, as Savage scored on an end around
from the one. The two-point conversion failed and the Majors
led
15-7.
The Colonels responded by driving to the Millsaps 18, as Conliffe
and Hinkle again hooked up for a 26-yard gain. The Majors, however,
stuffed running back Josh Ware for a loss of four and Conliffe
missed on two consecutive passes. On fourth down, the Colonels
set up for a field goal but the snap was fumbled by the holder,
allowing the Majors to take over.
After each
team traded punts, the Majors put the nail in the coffin with
a 10-play, 65-yard drive, capped
off by Joseph’s
12-yard strike to Donnie Epps with 3:44 remaining. On the drive,
Joseph completed 6-of-7 passes for 68 yards and the Majors converted
on two third downs. Russolino’s kick put the Majors up
22-7.
The defense
stuffed the Colonels on the ensuing possession on four plays
and the Majors tacked on one final touchdown when
Metzger broke into the open field and raced 22 yards for his
third rushing TD of the year.
Metzger led the Millsaps backfield, rushing for 51 yards on
nine carries to go along with two receptions for 20 yards. Woodall
had an active day from the fullback position, pulling in two
passes for 18 yards and rushing for 14 more.
McCarty led
all receivers, followed by Pereira and Epps, who had
four catches for 41 yards and five catches for 31 yards,
respectively.
Gillenwater
led the Millsaps defense with 12 tackles and a forced fumble
while senior safety Ray Kline tallied six tackles and Younger
and Canaan Farris had five stops piece. Kline, Marcus Harris
and Jonathan Brooks also each had two pass breakups.
Centre received
an incredible defensive effort from Hay, as the SCAC’s
leading tackler racked up 12 tackles in addition to a forced
fumble and a pass breakup.
Defensive back Zack Sloan
added 12 tackles.
Offensively,
the Colonels were led by Hinkel, who had five catches for 74
yards whereas Conliffe completed 11-of-21 passes for 107
yards.
With the
win and No. 12 Trinity’s loss to Rhodes 27-13, the Majors
are the lone team with an undefeated record in conference at
4-0. The Majors have
outscored SCAC opponents 149-34.
The Majors
will make the journey to Sewanee, Tenn., next weekend to take
on the Sewanee Tigers. Game time is set for 1:30 CDT
and can be heard on ESPN Radio 1240 AM or on the internet at
www.espnradio1240.com.
Game Notes:
Russolino tied a single-game school-record with
three field goals made
Joseph (the nation's 4th ranked passer) threw for 350+ yards
for the third-straight game
Millsaps has held 4 of the last 5 opponents under 200 yards
of total offense
Millsaps has outscored its SCAC opponents 149-34 (219-71 overall)
The Majors have won 10-straight SCAC games dating
back to last season
The Majors' defense recorded their conference-leading
21st
sack of the year
