Backup quarterback Roy Burchett led the Colonels in rushing with 80 yards, as Nicholls fell to Jacksonville State Gamecocks 34-15, on Saturday night. “I thought it was a heck of a game for him (Burchett), with it being his first collegiate football game,” Daryl Daye, the Colonel’s head coach said.
The Gamecocks broke a three-year losing streak to the Colonels in Jacksonville with the win.
Although Burchett, who replaced an injured Josh Son, was the starting quarterback for the game, the Colonels used four quarterbacks throughout the course of the game.
The Colonel special teams unit, which consists of nine true freshmen, also played a role in the contest as the contest as Chris Thompson blocked a field goal, Doug King blocked an extra point and Brian Thomas ran a successful fake punt for the third time in his college career. The last time the Colonels blocked an extra point, a field goal and converted a fake punt in one game was in 1990.
Jeremy Thompson, who is ranked eight in the country in punting yards with 43.6 yards per punt, punted the ball five times for a total of 219 yards, while averaging 43.8 yards a punt. His longest punt was 55 yards.
Colt Coletti finished second in rushing behind Burchett, carrying the ball 15 times for 78 yards and Phillip Brock had five carries for 32 yards.
Isiah Mitchell caught two passes for a total of 57 and yards as he led Nicholls in receiving
Reggie Stancil led the charge for the Gamecocks offensively as he ran the ball 15 times for a total of 109 yards, and he completed 12 of 22 passes for 293 yards passing.
Ralph Jenkins led Jacksonville State in receiving as he caught three passes for a total of 134 yards.
The Colonels drew first blood in the first quarter as Coletti rushed for a touchdown from four the four yard line with 10:44 left in the quarter, but James Wilcox mixed the extra point attempt, which made the score 6-0.
Jacksonville State followed with a score of its own on its next offensive drive. Stancil completed a 24-yard pass to Wagon with 8:40 left to go in the first quarter. Steven Lee converted the extra point to give the Gamecocks a 7-6 lead over the Colonels.
Nicholls put another three points on the board when Wilcox made a field goal from 20 yards out with 8:23 remaining in the second quarter, giving the Colonels a three-point edge, with a score of 9-7.
Towards the end of the second quarter, with 1:08 remaining before half-time, Stancil completed a 32-yard pass to Jason Poe for the touchdown, Lee converted another extra point, which gave the Gamecocks a 20-9 lead going into the second half.
“Reggie is a heck of a quarterback and he is so elusive back there, he makes you play hard,” Jay Thomas, the Colonel’s defensive coordinator said.
The Colonels would cut Jacksonville State’s lead to five points in the fourth quarter as Josh Fontenot completed a 54-yard pass to Mitchell for a touchdown with 7:46 remaining in the ball game, but the Colonels failed to score on a two-point conversion, which made the score 15-20.
“Fontenot came in and threw a nice pass, the receiver was wide open and he hit for a touchdown,” said Daye.
The Gamecocks scored again with 4:05 remaining in the game, when Roger Bell broke a 59-yard run for a touchdown. Lee completed another extra point kick, which gave the Gamecocks a 27-15 lead.
Jacksonville State scored the last touchdown of the game when Bell ran for a 25-yard touchdown, with 1:21 remaining in the ball game, giving the Gamecocks a 34-15 win over the Colonels.
“They executed and made plays at crunch time. It seemed like whenever we got a big play, they would come back and answer,” said Daye.
