Dukes tame Tigers, extend season
JMU finishes season with same record as 2004 championship run at 9-2
By John Galle, sports editor
Posted on November 20, 2006

The JMU football team went to Towson with a mission Saturday to prove itself as a playoff team to the NCAA committee against the top-ranked passing offense in the Atlantic 10.

Mission accomplished.

The Dukes didn’t allow a single Towson touchdown and came out with a 38-3 victory, ending the Tigers’ playoff hopes at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

“It was the wrong week to play us,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews said. “We were ready to go today.”

The eighth-year coach wasn’t kidding. The Dukes had 436 yards of total offense and scored on six of 11 possessions in the must-win contest.

“We all knew what we had to do to get into the playoffs,” JMU senior quarterback Justin Rascati said. “I never want to leave it up to a committee whether we get in or not. We knew we had to handle business and we just treated it like a playoff game.”

In the first half, the Dukes passed the ball four times, while junior tailback Eugene Holloman rushed for 108 yards — his sixth 100-yard performance of the year.

“It was hard to make them miss for some reason,” Holloman said. “But I’m going to work on that for next week.”

Holloman finished with 131 yards, four shy of 1,000 on the season.

“I was telling coach, you know, we were pounding them, but let’s not give up on the pass at halftime,” Rascati said. “And in the second half, we threw on them.”

Rascati completed 9 of 12 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns, while running for another. He accounted for all 21 points scored in the second half.

“We were concerned about their pass rush and their ability to control the ball,” Towson coach Gordy Combs said. “And they did both of those things today.”

The Tigers didn’t help matters by turning the ball over four times, one in each quarter.

The game was close until Towson’s wide receiver Eric Yancey muffed a punt return that Barnes recovered. The turnover proved to be the turning point, as JMU scored four touchdowns on four consecutive drives.

On the play, Yancey waved off his teammates as a short punt bounced in front of him. However, when the ball bounced up, Yancey decided to field it, but only got a hand on it before he was dragged down.

“It wasn’t one of my better decisions, but I wasn’t sure if it had hit my teammate in the back,” Yancey said.

After scoring 28 unanswered points, JMU used its last possession of the game to march 74 yards and run off the remaining 7:44.

The Dukes’ defense made it a day to forget for Towson quarterback Sean Schaefer and the Tigers’ offense, as it allowed 12 rushing yards, registered three sacks and put constant pressure on the quarterback, often with just its front four.

“Our defensive line made our jobs easy,” said JMU junior linebacker Justin Barnes, who recovered two fumbles, both of which turned into JMU scores. “We blitzed a little bit, but not as much as usual.”

Matthews said: “[Schaefer] was on his back a lot, or he was on his back foot. We just didn’t let him get into rhythm today.”

Schaefer finished the season with more than 3,000 passing yards, but failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 21 career games. He also had an interception and two fumbles lost.

Rascati, by comparison, hooked up with senior wide receiver L.C. Baker twice for scores, while freshman wide receiver Rockeed McCarter’s only catch of the game in the fourth quarter was for a game-long 58 yards. It was the first touchdown of McCarter’s career.

“When we’re balanced [on offense], we’re hard to stop,” Rascati said.

Said Barnes: “When we get going [on defense], its hard to score on us.”

Of note: Rascati tied Eriq Williams (1991) for the JMU single-season record for touchdowns with 19 with his three-touchdown performance at Towson. Also, senior kicker David Rabil broke the JMU record for career scoring with 224 points, passing John Coursey (1993-’96) by four points after converting on a 38-yard field goal and hitting five extra points against the Tigers.