HARRISONBURG, Va. – After falling behind by 21 early in the fourth quarter, South Alabama rallied to make it a one-score game, but could not find the end zone on its last drive as James Madison held on to win 31-23 Saturday afternoon at Bridgeforth Stadium.
With the loss, the Jaguars fell to 2-3 for the year with an 0-1 mark in Sun Belt Conference play.
"I'm really pleased with the flight of our team," said head coach
Kane Wommack. "When you're down and you put yourself in a hole, I think that guys seemed to stay really locked in on the sideline. Had a lot of adversity today, but it was all self-created."
The Jags had several bright spots in the losing effort, including the receiving duo of
Caullin Lacy and
Jamaal Pritchett who both had big games. Lacy caught six passes for 132 yards, including a 55-yard connection with
Carter Bradley in the fourth quarter to set up a
La'Damian Webb touchdown run and pull South within a single score. Pritchett caught three passes for 65 yards, and scored his first touchdown in a USA uniform on a 48-yard bomb from Bradley.
On the defensive side of the ball, South Alabama held James Madison to 2-of-14 on third down conversions, and 0-of-2 on fourth downs.
Jaden Voisin also produced a takeaway for the Jags by intercepting a pass to set up the USA offense in plus territory. It was the explosive plays of JMU that haunted the Jags, though, as the Dukes scored three times from 44 yards out or further.
Trey Kiser led the attack for South with eight total tackles, including three tackles for loss.
Wy'Kevious Thomas also played a good game with six tackles, including 1.5 for loss and half a sack.
UP NEXT
South Alabama will remain on the road for its next contest when it travels to ULM for its fourth road trip in six games. Kickoff between the Jags and Warhawks is slated for 6 p.m. CT.
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