HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison remained unbeaten on the season with a 41-13 victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Bridgeforth Stadium in Sun Belt Conference football action.
The Dukes wasted little time in jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring on their first two drives with touchdown passes from Jordan McCloud. On JMU's third possession, the Dukes drove 84 yards before settling for a 23-yard field goal to make it 17-0 mid-way through the second quarter. Georgia Southern finally got rolling on its fourth drive, using two big passes to tight end Keaton Upshaw to move the ball down the field before Michael Lantz connected from 43 yards out to make it 17-3. The Dukes responded with a 46-yard field goal and then Lantz made a chip-shot field goal from 27-yards out as the clock expired.
After being forced to punt for the first time in the game, the Dukes forced a three-and-out from the Eagles and used a short field off the punt to put another touchdown on the board when McCloud found Kaelon Black out of the backfield. The Eagles came into the game having allowed just three touchdown passes combined in their first five games, but gave up three to McCloud in this contest. After a JC French interception, the Dukes punched it in with a 20-yard scoring run from Black and then used a long punt return to set up a third touchdown in the quarter. On the final drive of the game, David Mbadinga punched the ball into the end zone for his first career touchdown making the final score, 41-13.
Khaleb Hood led the receiving corps with 10 receptions for 78 yards. Brin connected on 25-of-42 passes for 204 yards and Jalen White ran for 50 yards. Defensively, Marques Watson-Trent led the way with seven tackles, including a sack.
Up Next: The Eagles (4-2, 1-1 SBC) return home to Allen E. Paulson Stadium on Oct. 21 to host ULM at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at GSEagles.com/Tickets.