James Madison Earns Their Sixth Win of the Season After Beating Southern Mississippi (10-29-24)
By: Xavier Jones
All Photo Credit: Maliyah Allen & Brynne Smith-LMS Network
On Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, VA, the James Madison Dukes welcomed the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. The Dukes go into this game looking to improve their chances of playing for the conference championship, while the Golden Eagles look to earn their first conference win of the season.
In the early part of the first quarter, Southern Miss was able to put some points on the board after a 44-yard field goal by Connor Gibbs to give them a 3-0 lead. The Golden Eagles would carry their 3-0 lead into the second quarter. JMU’s offense decided to wake up in the second quarter after scoring 17 straight points. Those points came from a 40-yard field goal by Cristiano Rosa, a 4-yard TD run by George Pettaway, and a 10-yard TD pass from Alonza Barnett III to Taylor Thompson. However, Southern Miss was able to put together two scoring drives right before halftime. Connor Gibbs chipped in with two more field goals from 54-yards and 46-yards to cut their deficit to 17-9 at the half.
The opening kickoff after halftime was returned 94-yards for the touchdown to increase the Dukes lead to 23-9. Southern Miss would march down the field, and score on a 15-yard run by Kenyon Clay. Although, the Golden Eagles’ extra point attempt was blocked and returned for a defensive PAT conversion by Chris Shearin to give JMU the 25-15 lead. James Madison carried this 10-point lead into the fourth quarter, and would look to add on more points to secure the victory. The Golden Eagles weren’t able to put anymore points on the board, and the Dukes scored on a 7-yard TD pass from Barnett III to Cam Ross. The final score of the was 32-15, and JMU moves to 6-2 (2-2) on the season and Southern Miss drops to 1-7 (0-4). James Madison’s next game is November 9th against Georgia State, and Southern Miss plays Marshall on the same day.
