Junior linebacker Yashua Willis and senior linebacker Garrick Spain’s 12 combined tackles, 3.5 for a loss, with the team’s 10 points were not enough to overcome the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State’s 60 points on Saturday’s Homecoming game.Not only was this the Colonels’ Homecoming game but also a homecoming for Louisiana native Ryan Perrilloux. This was Perrilloux’s first game in Louisiana since agreeing to play for Jacksonville State.
Perrilloux threw four touchdowns and ran one in by himself. He also threw for 250 yards and ran for 58 yards.
“We knew that we were playing an exceptionally talented team coming in with a really good quarterback,” head coach Jay Thomas said. “We had a chance to watch him grow up in this area and recruit him, and we knew he could beat us with his arm and his legs.”
Jacksonville State broke a scoreless game in the first quarter with 1:40 left when the Gamecocks traveled 77 yards down the field, with Perrilloux’s pass to teammate Justin Howard to start the scoring for both teams.
The Gamecocks added seven points to its lead on the opening drive in the second quarter. With the extra point, the Colonels found itself two touchdowns down at 14-0.
The Colonels put points on the board when senior place-kicker Ross Schexnayder made a field goal from 48 yards back in the second quarter. This 11-point differential was the closest the Colonels came to catching up.
The Colonels went into the locker rooms at half time down by 24 with a score of 27-3. After the band performed and the Homecoming Queen Whitney Dupuy and King Blaine Adams were announced, the Colonels came back out with hopes of catching up to the Gamecocks.
However, on the opening kickoff, the Gamecocks added seven points to its lead by running the kickoff back 95 yards.
After Perrilloux’s fourth touchdown, improving the score to 41-3, a Colonel fumble from a Gamecock kickoff allowed Jacksonville State to gain possession of the ball on the Nicholls 22-yard line and score soon after on a six-play touchdown drive to change the score to 47-3.
After Perrilloux ran in for a touchdown with 14:39 left in the game, Colonel redshirt freshman quarterback LaQuinton Caston ran in two yards for a Colonel touchdown, giving the Colonels 10 points to Jacksonville’s 53.
However, Jacksonville scored again before the end of the game, resulting in a final score of 60-10 Gamecocks.
The Colonels’ next game is a conference play against Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas on Oct. 10 at 2 p.m.
“The open date comes at a good time for us,” Thomas said. “It gives us a chance to heal and gets us in position for the second half of our season with conference starting.”
The Colonels’ next home game will be Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. against the 2008 Southland Champions, the Bobcats of Texas State.
