2018 Ohio Valley Conference Football Report Austin Peay | Eastern Illinois | Eastern Kentucky | Jacksonville State | Murray State | Southeast Missouri | Tennessee State | Tennessee Tech | UT Martin September 24, 2018 Ohio Valley Conference FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 215 Centerview Drive, Suite 115 Contact: Kyle Schwartz Brentwood, TN 37027 Phone: (615) 690-6685 OVCSports.com Email: [email protected] Twitter: @OVCSports OVC STANDINGS (In games through September 22 OVC OVERALL W L PCT. PF PA W L PCT. PF PA Home Away Neutral Streak Tennessee State 1 0 1.000 41 40 2 0 1.000 75 43 1-0 1-0 0-0 W2 Jacksonville State 1 0 1.000 48 20 2 1 .667 136 40 2-0 0-0 0-1 W2 Eastern Kentucky 1 0 1.000 23 14 2 2 .500 123 111 2-0 0-2 0-0 W1 UT Martin 1 0 1.000 37 7 1 3 .250 112 153 1-1 0-2 0-0 W1 Murray State 0 0 .000 0 0 0 3 .000 33 123 0-1 0-2 0-0 L3 Austin Peay 0 1 .000 7 37 2 2 .500 109 122 1-0 1-2 0-0 L1 Southeast Missouri 0 1 .000 14 23 2 2 .500 123 136 1-0 1-2 0-0 L1 Eastern Illinois 0 1 .000 40 41 0 4 .000 111 199 0-2 0-2 0-0 L4 Tennessee Tech 0 1 .000 20 48 0 4 .000 52 204 0-1 0-3 0-0 L4 THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE LAST WEEK’S RESULTS Saturday, September 29 Saturday, September 22 *Tennessee State at Vanderbilt, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Alternate) *@UT Martin 37, #21 Austin Peay 7 *Austin Peay at #8 Jacksonville State, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN3) *Tennessee State 41, @Eastern Illinois 40 *Eastern Illinois at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+) *@Eastern Kentucky 23, Southeast Missouri 14 *UT Martin at Murray State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+) *@#9 Jacksonville State 48, Tennessee Tech 20 * Indicates OVC Contest ALL TIMES CENTRAL THIS WEEK’S OVC HIGHLIGHTS/STORYLINES Conference play began this past week with Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Tennessee State and UT Martin picking up wins...The win by Jacksonville State was its 33rd-straight OVC victory, six wins away from the FCS all-time record...The Game- cocks are the only OVC team ranked this week, coming in at No. 8 in both major polls; the Gamecocks have been ranked in the Top 10 in 62 of the past 64 weeks...Jacksonville State is the only team in the FCS to rank in the top seven nationally in total off ense (No. 7, 533.7 yards/game) and total defense (No. 3, 191.0 yards/game)...Tennessee Tech's Nick Madonia has the two longest fi eld goals in the FCS this season (54 and 53 yards)...Eastern Kentucky leads all FCS teams with 12 turnovers gained through four games this season...Eastern Illinois WR Alexander Hollins continues to lead the FCS with seven receiving touch- downs in 2018...Southeast Missouri RB Marquis Terry is fi rst nationally in all-purpose yards (232.75/game) and third in rushing (162.0 yards/game)......This week's games will see the return of the OVC Game of the Week on ESPN3; that contest features Austin Peay at Jacksonville State in a matchup of teams that fi nished 1 and 2 in the OVC last season...In other action Eastern Illinois is at Tennessee Tech, UT Martin travels to Murray State and Tennessee State steps out of Conference play to take on FBS foe Vanderbilt...Eastern Kentucky and Southeast Missouri have byes this week...This season 36 OVC football games will be streamed on ESPN+, after the OVC agreed to an extension on its media rights deal with ESPN; the ESPN+ broadcasts will replace games formerly on the OVC Digital Network 2018 OVC Football Weekly Release - September 24 • 1 OVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK OVC MEDIA INFORMATION Kyle Schwartz OFFENSIVE Asst. Commissioner/Strategic Communications Josh Pearson, WR • 6-4, 205, Jr. • Decatur, Ala. • Jacksonville State Phone: (615) 690-6685 Cell: (615) 775-1937 Pearson caught fi ve passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns as Jacksonville E-mail: [email protected] State won its 33rd-straight OVC game with a 48-20 victory over Tennessee Tech. Web: http://www.OVCSports.com The junior caught a 50-yard touchdown from Zerrick Cooper at the end of the ONLINE PRESS BOX: The OVC Football Online Press Box is a second quarter and opened the third quarter by scoring on a 32-yard pass from one-stop shop for gathering information about the OVC and its member schools. Media can access it at www.OVCSports.com/ Cooper as the Gamecocks turned a 17-6 lead into a 31-6 advantage. His fi ve footballpressbox or through links at OVCSports.com. receiving touchdowns through three games is more than any JSU player had all SOCIAL MEDIA: Get breaking news about the OVC by follow- of last season. Pearson currently ranks fourth nationally in receiving touchdowns ing the OVC through Social Media. Check out the OVC sites (5), 11th in receiving yards/game (120.7), 12th in yards/reception (24.13), 15th at http://www.twitter.com/OVCSports and http://www.facebook. com/ovcsports. Also check out www.YouTube.com/ohiovalley- in receiving yards (362) and 18th in scoring (10.0 points/game). conference and the league’s blog at OVCExtra.com. WEEKLY NOTES: The OVC will release its Players of the Others Nominated: Alexander Hollins, Eastern Illinois; Daryl McCleskey, Jr., Week each Sunday afternoon throughout the season. The full Eastern Kentucky; Demry Croft, Tennessee State; Dresser Winn, UT Martin. weekly notes report will be released each Monday throughout the season by 5 p.m. CT. The report is available via e-mail, and is posted on the league’s Web site in text and PDF versions. DEFENSIVE Statistics are updated after each gameday on the OVC Web site. Garrett Wall, LB • 6-0, 220, Sr. • Fairview, Tenn. • UT Martin After registering only 11 combined tackles in the fi rst three games of the season, 2018 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK OFFENSIVE Wall tallied 13 tackles, 3.0 tackles-for-loss, 0.5 sack, forced a fumble and had Sept. 2 Alexander Hollins, Eastern Illinois a quarterback hurry as UT Martin topped No. 21 ranked Austin Peay 37-7. The Sept. 9 Daniel Santacaterina, Southeast Missouri Dresser Winn, UT Martin senior keyed a Skyhawk defensive eff ort that limited the high-powered Govs Sept. 16 Marquis Terry, Southeast Missouri off ense to just seven points (27 below is average) and to 272 yards of total of- Sept. 23 Josh Pearson, Jacksonville State Sept. 30 fense (APSU entered the game averaging 465.3 yards/game), including just 60 Oct. 7 yards over the fi nal three quarters. Overall the UTM defense tied the school’s Oct. 14 Oct. 21 Division I record in tackles for loss (15). Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Others Nominated: Gunnar Scholato, Austin Peay; Dytarious Johnson, Eastern Nov. 18 Illinois; Cornelius Floyd, Eastern Kentucky; Randy Robinson, Jacksonville State; DEFENSIVE Zach Hall, Southeast Missouri; Mekhi Brown, Tennessee State; Josh Poplar, Sept. 2 Zach Hall, Southeast Missouri Sept. 9 Leodis Moore III, Eastern Kentucky Tennessee Tech. Sept. 16 Steven Crowder, Eastern Kentucky Sept. 23 Garrett Wall, UT Martin Sept. 30 SPECIALIST Oct. 7 Oct. 14 Samuel Hayworth, K • 5-11, 180, Jr. • Ormond Beach, Fla. • Eastern Kentucky Oct. 21 Hayworth earned his second OVC Specialist of the Week honors of the season Oct. 28 Nov. 4 after scoring 11 of Eastern Kentucky's 23 points in the team's win over Southeast Nov. 11 Missouri. The junior hit fi eld goals of 29, 41 and 41 yards, the fi nal two coming in Nov. 18 the fourth quarter and both of which matched his career-long, while also adding SPECIALIST a pair of extra points as the Colonels remained perfect against FCS opponents Sept. 2 Samuel Hayworth, Eastern Kentucky Antonio Zita, Tennessee State this season. Hayworth also kicked off six times for an average of 51.5 yards and Sept. 9 Jason Pierce, Jacksonville State Nicholas Litang, Southeast Missouri a touchback. Hayworth is 6-of-8 on fi eld goal attempts this season, including Sept. 16 Matt Reyna, Eastern Illinois a perfect 4-of-4 from inside 40 yards. He ranks 16th nationally in fi eld goals/ Sept. 23 Samuel Hayworth, Eastern Kentucky Sept. 30 game (1.5). Oct. 7 Oct. 14 Oct. 21 Others Nominated: Cade Stinnett, Jacksonville State; Antonio Zita, Tennessee Oct. 28 State; Nick Madonia, Tennessee Tech; Petyon Logan, UT Martin. Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18 NEWCOMER NEWCOMER Demry Croft, QB • 6-5, 205, Jr. • Rockford, Ill. • Tennessee State Sept. 2 Zerrick Cooper, Jacksonville State Sept. 9 Daniel Santacaterina, Southeast Missouri Croft, a transfer from Minnesota, completed 14-of-20 passes for 217 yards and Sept. 16 Johnathan Brantley, Eastern Illinois two touchdowns and rushed for 56 yards as Tennessee State overcame a 24-3 Sept. 23 Demry Croft, Tennessee State Sept. 30 defi cit to win 41-40 at Eastern Illinois. He connected with Treon Harris on a Oct. 7 30-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to pull the Tigers within fi ve points Oct. 14 Oct. 21 (31-26). Midway through the fourth quarter he connected with Devon Johnson Oct. 28 Nov. 4 on a 49-yard touchdown pass, the only play of the drive, to give TSU its fi rst Nov. 11 lead of the game.