DUKES DEFEAT LOCK HAVEN 56-0 IN FOOTBALL OPENER

Saturday, September 3

Harrisonburg, Va.

James Madison University

1-0

Lock Haven

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Lock Haven

James Madison

9/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Sept. 3, 2005 – Junior tailback Alvin Banks (Hampton, Va./Hampton) and red-shirt freshman wide receiver Dexter Manley (Chesapeake, Va./Oscar Smith) each scored twice as the James Madison University football team opened its 2005 season with a 56-0 non-conference victory over Lock Haven Saturday night at Bridgeforth Stadium/Zane Showker Field.

Banks scored the Dukes' first points of the season on a two-yard run at the 9:49 mark of the opening quarter and on a 39-yard run with 4:59 left in the third period for a 42-0 JMU lead. He carried 11 times overall for a game-high 97 yards and caught a four-yard pass.

Manley, playing his first JMU game, caught two of junior quarterback Justin Rascati's (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz) three touchdown passes. The duo combined on a 36-yard scoring play for a 14-0 lead on the initial play of the second quarter and on a 17-yard touchdown pass for a 28-0 Dukes advantage with 3:32 left in the first half.

JMU, which was playing for the first time since winning last season Division I-AA national championship, compiled 554 yards of total offense (323 rushing, 231 passing) and limited Lock haven to 134 yards (31 rushing, 103 passing). The Dukes, who improved to 4-0 in the series, opened their 2004 season by beating the Bald Eagles 62-7.

JMU had 30 first downs and got touchdowns from six players, all of whom are underclassmen. The Dukes led 7-0 after one quarter, 35-0 at halftime and 42-0 after three periods. Each of JMU's scoring drives was of at least 46 yards, five were of 50 yards or more, and two were of 80 or more yards. Only one of the scoring series, JMU's final of the game, took as many as 10 plays.

In addition to Banks and Manley, junior wide receiver Ardon Bransford (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), sophomore wide receiver/return specialist L.C. Baker (Richmond, Va./Armstrong), red-shirt freshman quarterback Rodney Landers (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood), and sophomore tailback Antoinne Bolton (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) had JMU touchdowns.

Bransford caught Rascati's other touchdown pass, a 22-yarder with 7:21 left in the second quarter, and Baker scored the Dukes' third of four touchdowns in the second quarter on a 62-yard punt return.

Landers had a 24-yard touchdown run for a 49-0 JMU lead with 14:52 left in the fourth quarter, and Bolton scored on a four-yard run with 7:09 left in the game.

Senior tailback Raymond Hines (Hyattsville, Md./High Point) finished with 66 rushing yards on eight carries, Bolton with 62 yards on a game-high 13 attempts, and Landers with 61 yards on five carries.

Rascati completed 12 of 18 passes for 208 yards.

The Dukes didn't have a turnover, they averaged 8.5 yards on their 65 plays, and they punted only once.

Lock Haven, which beat Cheyney in its opener a week ago, averaged 2.2 yards per game and didn't have a turnover.

The game was played before 14,673 fans, the largest opening game home crowd JMU ever has attracted.

The contest also followed an afternoon dedication of JMU's Robert and Frances Plecker Athletic Performance Center, adjacent to the Dukes' playing field. The Plecker Center houses most aspects of JMU's football operation as well as state-of-the art sports medicine, strength and conditioning, and athletic support facilities that are utilized throughout JMU's 28-sport intercollegiate athletic program.

The Center is named for Harrisonburg's Robert and Frances Plecker, who were major contributors to the $10 million project. Family members of Zane Showker, another major contributor to the project, also took part in ribbon-cutting ceremonies formally opening the facility.

JMU plays next Saturday at Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. The meeting will be the teams' first. Coastal Carolina was 10-1 last season and opened 2005 by winning 17-10 Saturday at Elon.