Dukes dominate Bucs

Victory assures JMU .500 record; first since 2000

Drew Wilson / senior photographer Red-shirt freshman tailback Alvin Banks (1) breaks through the line to score the first touchdwon Saturday. JMU defeated Charleston University 45-7.

JMU was the heavy favorite to defeat Charleston Southern University Saturday, and the Dukes lived up to the billing, crushing the Buccaneers, 45-7, at Zane Showker Field at Bridgeforth Stadium.

Charleston Southern coach Jay Mills was not surprised with the outcome of the game. "I think this is one of those games where it was what it was," Mills said. "[JMU] is a very good football team.

"They are clearly the better team," Mills added.

Red-shirt junior linebacker Trey Townsend wasted no time in implementing the Dukes' goal of getting out to a quick start.

Townsend intercepted a pass by Charleston Southern quarterback Collin Drafts on third down of the Buccaneers' first possession. He returned the ball 15 yards to Charleston Southern's 38-yard line.

"That was our main goal — to get off to a good start," Townsend said. "We didn't want to come out flat, [despite] who we were playing — we still wanted to come out and play hard."

From there, JMU moved the ball into the red zone and let red-shirt freshman running back Alvin Banks run wild. Banks got five carries during the seven-play drive, which was capped off by busting through the middle of the line and scoring a touchdown from 9 yards out.

"All season, we've had trouble coming out of the shoot," red-shirt junior quarterback Matt LeZotte said. "We really emphasized playing hard right off the bat, and I really think we executed very well off the bat today."

The Dukes' defense held the Buccaneers on its next possession to a three-and-out, forcing a punt. JMU took over at its own 37, and once again marched down to the Charleston Southern end zone. The 42-second possession for the Dukes was highlighted by a 61-yard touchdown reception by senior wide receiver Alan Harrison off a pass from LeZotte.

Harrison said he was surprised at how open he was in the first half, but also it can be attributed to the play calling. "[The early lead] was real good," he said. "To get the momentum going in our favor, it seemed like we could just roll on after we got out to that big lead."

The route was on, and JMU was up 14-0 eight minutes into the game.

LeZotte and the offense continued to move the ball against the Buccaneers, as their next possession lasted 24 seconds.

Once again, LeZotte found Harrison wide open down the field for another 38 yards. Harrison was tackled at the 1-yard line, but, on the next play, LeZotte capitalized on a quarterback sneak for a 1-yard score.

JMU's defense continued to stop the Buccaneers, except for one drive during the second quarter when the Charleston Southern offense moved 89 yards in 11 plays. The Buccaneers finished the 5:21-minute scoring drive with a 4-yard touchdown run by tailback Robert Adams.

A 31-7 halftime lead for the Dukes was all it needed to hand Charleston Southern its 10th loss of the season, while improving to 6-5 overall. JMU piled on 250 yards of total offense and was a perfect 4-4 in the red zone. The early lead never was challenged by Charleston Southern, as JMU shut out the Buccaneers in the second half.

However, the Dukes still tacked on two more touchdowns to give them the final margin of victory.

Coach Mickey Matthews was happy for the win, but said he still was crushed from the loss to the University of New Hampshire the week before.

"Regardless of who you play, you have to execute," Matthews said. "We were coming off a very tough loss up there (New Hampshire), and that is very hard to come back from, I think.

"Today's game — offensively — was kind of the way we played this year offensively. I thought we were very consistent," he added.

A scary moment in the game occurred when red-shirt sophomore cornerback Bruce Johnson was injured on a play during the second half. Johnson was taken off the field, placed in an ambulance, and taken to Rockingham Memorial Hospital.

Matthews said Johnson suffered a severe stinger in his neck. Johnson was released from RMH Saturday evening and walked out of the hospital under his own strength. Matthews is unsure if Johnson will play in the season finale Saturday.