James Madison’s Dominance Continues for Another Week  (9-28-24)

By: Xavier Jones

Headline Photo Credit: Arturo Jones-LMS Network 

Coming off of their dominant performance against North Carolina last week, the James Madison Dukes welcome the Ball State Cardinals to Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, VA. JMU would be looking to remain undefeated on the season, while Ball State is looking to get on the winning path after losing in consecutive weeks. 

James Madison received the opening kickoff and proceeded to march down the field for a touchdown. Alonza Barnett III connected with Yamir Knight on a 12-yard TD reception for that score and to give JMU the early 7-0 lead in the game. However, Ball State’s first offensive possession was cut short due to an interception by Terrence Spence. After the turnover, the Dukes again went down the field with ease and scored on a 24-yard run by George Pettaway to increase the lead. The Cardinals managed to get on the board after drive drive-saving pass interference penalty set them up for a touchdown.

Ball State’s Kadin Semonza would connect with Tanner Koziol on a 15-yard reception for that touchdown. JMU took a chance on 4th down and came away with a 30-yard reception for the first down to keep their drive alive. James Madison would go on to score another touchdown after a 5-yard pass from Barnett III to Omarion Dollison to give them a 22-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Ball State couldn’t generate any type of offense going scoreless for the rest of the half. JMU put together one scoring drive in the second quarter when Barnett III connected with Dollison again, giving him two on the day. Going into halftime, James Madison held a 29-7 lead over Ball State. 

At the start of the third quarter, the Cardinals received the ball, but that drive ended on a pick-6 by JMU’s DL Eric O’Neill. This pushed their lead to 35-7. After failing on their next drive and turning the ball over on downs, JMU would score on consecutive drives to push their lead up to 49-7. James Madison’s defense was suffocating all game not allowing Ball State to score any more points since their lone scoring drive in the first quarter. The Dukes added two more scoring drives in the fourth quarter for a 63-7 lead and that would end up being the final score of the game. It seemed like the defense for JMU wanted to come out and make a statement which they did. James Madison’s next game is October 5th against ULM on the road and Ball State’s next game is at home against Western Michigan.

The standout players from this game are the following:

Alonza Barnett III: 20/28 250 yards 5 TDs

10 rush att. 60 yards TD

Yamir Knight: 4 rec, 44 yards, 2 TDs

Eric O’Neill: 3 total tackles, 2 solo, 2 sacks 2 TFL, INT, TD