FINAL STATS  |   PHOTO GALLERY

JACKSONVILLE – In a season of unbelievable comebacks, the No. 6 Jacksonville State football team may have pulled of the most improbable one of the year in a 29-27 win over No. 7 Southeast Missouri on Saturday night at Burgess-Snow Field.

In the first Top 10 matchup between two Ohio Valley Conference Schools in 15 years, the Gamecocks (9-1, 6-1 Ohio Valley Conference) got a 17-yard pass from junior Marques Ivory to sophomore Alan Bonner with 11 seconds to play, erasing a five-point deficit and capping a drive that looked like it was doomed just five plays earlier.

With a first down play at the SEMO (9-2, 7-1 OVC) 37-yard line, the Gamecocks snapped the ball past Ivory and sophomore Calvin Middleton fell on it at JSU's 42. Facing a second-and-31 with a minute to play and no time outs remaining, Ivory found senior Jeffrey Cameron on a 29-yard strike across the middle then kept the third-down snap and picked up the first down to keep the drive alive.

Middleton took the quarterback's shuttle pass for nine yards on the next play, setting up the winning score. Ivory, a native of Warner Robins, Ga., found a diving Bonner just inside the right side of the end zone, putting the Gamecocks up and securing their seventh come-from behind win of the season. The fourth win in JSU's final possession this season also keeps the Gamecocks' OVC title hopes alive heading into next week's season finale at Tennessee Tech.

Ivory finished the day with 222 yards and a score on 18-of-26 passing. He also threw one interception. His favorite target was Cameron, who hauled in five catches for 80 yards in his home finale.

Middleton ran for two scores but freshman Darius Barksdale carried the load of JSU's 170 rushing yards. The transfer from Ole Miss and native of Batesville, Miss., ran for a career-high 113 yards on a career-high 20 carries, mostly after starting tailback Jamal Young went down with a first-half knee injury.

The OVC's leading rusher, Henry Harris, ran for 134 yards on 21 carries for the Redhawks, while quarterback Matt Scheible ran for 60 yards and two scores on 12 rushes. Scheible also passed for 145 yards and a touchdown on a 13-for-22 night.

Junior Jason Horton led the Gamecock defense with 11 tackles, one for a loss. JSU got six tackles in the Redhawks' backfield, two by junior Jamison Wadley.

The Redhawks took advantage of a 20-yard punt from Coty Blanchard that set SEMO up at the Gamecocks' 30-yard line late in the first quarter. A 25-yard pass from Scheible to Miles Edwards on the drive's first play set up the game's first score, a one-yard Scheible run that gave the Redhawks a 7-0 lead with 3:49 to play in the quarter.

JSU answered on the ensuing possession, a 10-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a Middleton touchdown run from one yard out. James Esco followed the 4:30 drive with the extra point to tie that game at 7-7 with 14:14 to play in the opening half.

Esco would account for the Gamecocks' next six points, thanks to a 34-yard field goal with 10:06 to play in the second quarter and a 42-yard kick with 11:10 to play in the third. The Redhawks reclaimed the lead with just over three minutes left in the third on Scheibel's second scoring run, His seven-yard scamper capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive that gave SEMO a 14-13 advantage that it took into the fourth quarter.

JSU answered again to take back the lead early in the fourth. Middleton's second touchdown run of the day, a two-yard push, gave the Gamecocks a 19-14 lead with 13:18 remaining in the game. An Ivory pass attempt on the two-point conversion missed La'Ray Williams on the goal line, leaving the JSU advantage at five.

The Gamecock defense got a stop on SEMO's ensuing possession but a fumble by Bonner on the punt return put the Redhawks in business at the Gamecocks' 23-yard line. They would take advantage of their second drive starting inside the JSU 30, using a 19-yard pass from Scheibel to D.J. Foster to put them up 21-19 with 10:46 to play.

Bonner got a bit of redemption on the ensuing kick, returning it 54 yards to the Redhawks' 40. The return set up a 25-yard field goal by Esco, his third of the day, with 6:43 to play that put a 22-21 lead on JSU's side of the scoreboard.

The Redhawks needed just 2:37 to answer, thanks in large part to a 41-yard run by Harris on the first play of their next drive. He finished the five-play, 64-yard drive with a one-yard run, and SEMO's two-point attempt failed to leave it with a 27-22 lead with 4:06 remaining in the game.

SEMO punched the ensuing kickoff up the middle, allowing the Gamecocks to start their game-winning drive at their own 43-yard line.

The Gamecocks will wrap up their regular season on Saturday in Cookeville, Tenn., when they face Tennessee Tech at 4 p.m. CT. A JSU win would give them a share of their first OVC title since 2004 and the conference's automatic bid into the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.

POST-GAME NOTES
- Captains for the Gamecocks: senior WR Jeffery Cameron, senior WR John Houston Whiddon, senior DB T.J. Heath, senior LB Kevin Dix, senior TE Justin Kirby, senior LB Morrell Jones, senior TE Cory Freeman, senior RB Alphonso Freeney, senior LB Antonio Bonner, senior OL Justin Kay, senior OL Tyler Olgetree, senior OL Curt Porter, senior DT Tim McGee.
- Jacksonville State won the toss and deferred. SEMO elected to receive the opening kick.
- Jax State finished the 2010 regular season unblemished at home with a 5-0 mark at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium...The Gamecocks have been undefeated at home three times now under Jack Crowe...JSU went undefeated in 2004 and 2008 under Crowe.
- In a battle of top-10 teams, JSU knocked off its first ranked opponent of the season and the first win over a Top 10 team was a 19-10 win over No. 3 Northwestern State on Nov. 9, 2002...JSU has won three of its last four games vs. Top 25 squads.
- The Gamecocks moved to 9-1 on the season for the fist time since the 2004 season.
- JSU is now 25-7 over the last three years, the most wins of any OVC team
- After JSU had its Football Championship Series-best 12-game winning streak snapped last week at Eastern Kentucky, it snapped SEMO's nine-game winning streak, which replaced the Jax State streak.
- The season home finale for JSU drew 20,237, the second-highest attended game at the renovated Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium.
- Jax State has now won six games this season by single digits...it also marks the Gamecocks seventh come-from-behind win this season.
- JSU was a perfect 5-for-5 in the red zone against SEMO, pushing its season's total to 42-of-46 times it has scored inside the red zone...Jax State has been successful inside the red zone on 17 of its last 18 attempts.
- With the Gamecocks leading 10-7 at halftime, JSU has dominated the first half against Ohio Valley Conference opponents, outscoring the conference opposition 153-60.
- Alan Bonner's game-winning touchdown gave Jax State its fourth win in its final possession this season (Ole Miss, UTC, Georgia State)
- Junior DB A. J. Davis blocked JSU's first punt of the season in the opening quarter...The last time JSU blocked a punt was last season at SEMO by T.J. Heath...Heath picked up the loose ball on the deflection.
- Junior RB Calvin Middleton has now scored a touchdown in four-straight that he has played in, dating back to the UT Martin contest...he missed the Austin Peay game.
- For the third time in his career, Middleton scored a pair of TDs in a single game...he previously did it against Eastern Illinois in 2009 and versus Tennessee State as a freshman in 2008.
- Freshman TB Darius Barksdale posted a career high 113 yards on a career-best 23 carries...his 100-yard rushing game is the fourth by a Gamecock rusher this season. Jamal Young posted a pair of 100-yard games against EIU and Austin Peay. Calvin Middleton finished with 121 versus UT Martin.
- Barksdale becomes the first JSU freshman running back to rush over 100 yards since Marcus Mitchell tallied 103 yards against Cumberland University on Aug. 30, 2001.
- Sophomore placekicker James Esco drilled a season-high three field goals, connecting from 34, 42 and 25 ... The trio of field goals is the most in a game since former placekicker Gavin Hallford nailed four against Chattanooga on Sept. 8, 2007.
- Junior DB Jason Horton turned in his second double-digit tackle game of the season, leading the JSU defense with 11 stops, including a tackle for a loss.

4 - Games this season that JSU has put points on the scoreboard on its first drive of the second half.

10 - Straight games this season that JSU QB Marques Ivory has thrown for a touchdown.

17 - Times JSU has scored in the red zone in the last 18 attempts...The Gamecocks are 42-of-46 on the season this year inside the red zone.

31 - Wins by this year's senior class.

110 - Consecutive games in which the Gamecocks have scored, a streak that dates back to Nov.18, 2000, when they were last shut out.