JMU HOLDS OFF HUSKIES FOR 21-14 FOOTBALL WIN

Saturday, October 6

Brookline, Mass.

12:30 p.m.

James Madison University

5-1 , 3-0

Northeastern

1-4 , 0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

James Madison

Northeastern

10/7/2007 1:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

BROOKLINE, Mass., Oct. 6, 2007 – Junior quarterback Rodney Landers (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) hit sophomore tight end Charlie Newman (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) with a six-yard scoring pass on the opening series of the final half to put James Madison in front, and the Dukes held on for a 21-14 Colonial Athletic Association football win at Northeastern Saturday.

After JMU took its 21-14 lead, the Dukes' defense blocked a Northeastern field goal attempt, broke up a pass in the end zone, and intercepted a pass with less than a minute to play.

JMU improved to 5-1 overall with its fifth-straight victory and to 3-0 in the CAA.

Northeastern, which had beaten the Dukes in the teams' last three meetings on its field, fell to 1-4 overall and to 0-2 in the CAA.

Ninth-ranked JMU couldn't seal the victory until senior safety Nick Adams (Virginia Beach, Va./Kellam) stepped in front of a Northeastern pass with 36 seconds remaining. The host Huskies had moved from their 26 to the JMU 44 in six plays before Adams grabbed a pass from Northeastern quarterback Anthony Orio while going out of bounds at the JMU 27. With the Huskies out of timeouts, JMU then was able to easily run out the clock.

The Dukes earlier in the half had gotten a blocked field goal from junior linebacker D.J. Brandon linebacker (Raleigh, N.C./Enloe) after Northeastern reached the JMU 21 and a touchdown-saving play from junior cornerback Darrieus Ramsey (Yorktown, Va./Grafton) on a pass into the Dukes' end zone.

The blocked field goal try came on Northeastern's initial possession of the final half, and Ramsey's key play came with 6:21 left in the game.

Northeastern moved from its 37 to a first down at the JMU 10 in nine plays during the key fourth-period series. A holding penalty cost the Huskies 10 yards, but they got back to the JMU three for a fourth-down play. Orio threw to 6-foot-6 junior tight end Brian Mandeville, who already had caught two scoring passes and had another nullified by penalty, but Ramsey hit the receiver as the pass arrived, knocking the ball away and stopping the Husky threat.

Northeastern compiled 395 total yards (207 rushing, 188 passing) to JMU's 266 yards (209 rushing, 57) and 25 first downs to the Dukes' 13. The Huskies had 17 first downs during the opening half when they had a 19:04 to 10:56 edge in possession time.

Northeastern drove 70 yards in 10 plays to score on the game's first series with Orio hitting Mandeville on a 19-yard touchdown pass. Orio hit on three-straight passes for 25 yards to close the drive following a holding call against the Huskies. Tailback Maurice Murray had set up the score by carrying six times for 47 yards.

JMU moved 65 yards in 14 plays on its first possession to tie the score at 7-7. Landers capped the series with a two-yard scoring run after hitting on two passes for 17 yards and having an 18-yard run earlier during the drive. Senior tailback Antoinne Bolton (Virginia Bach, Va./Ocean Lakes) ran five times for 29 yards and had a seven-yard reception to help set up the touchdown.

A 32-yard Bolton run set up a score that gave JMU a 14-7 lead with 4:33 left in the first half. Northeastern had moved from its 15 to the JMU 26 before failing on a 43-yard field goal try, and the Dukes came back to score in three plays.

Landers hit sophomore wide receiver Ray Brown (Clinton, Md./C.H. Flowers) on a six-yard pass to start the possession. Bolton then ran to the Northeastern 36 from where redshirt freshman Griff Yancey (Glen Allen, Va./Hermitage) ran for his first college touchdown.

Northeastern answered JMU's quick scoring series with a 14-play, 60-yard touchdown drive to pull into a 14-14 tie at halftime. Orio capped the possession by hitting Mandeville on a one-yard touchdown pass with three seconds remaining in the half. JMU had held the Huskies on a second-and-goal play from the one, but Northeastern was able to spike the ball quickly on third down and get off another play.

JMU's eventual game-winning scoring drive that opened the second half was for 56 yards. Landers hit redshirt freshman wide receiver Marcus Turner (Berlin, N.J./Eastern) with a 13-yard pass and had a 12-yard run before hitting Newman in the end zone with 10:30 left in the third quarter.

Bolton had his second career 100-yard rushing game with 108 yards on 18 carries and Landers ran 13 times for 73 yards for the Dukes. Landers hit on 10 of 12 passes for 57 yards.

Murray ran 32 times for 182 yards and Orio completed 20 of 37 passes for 188 yards for Northeastern.

Senior free safety Tony LeZotte (Augusta, Ga./Westside) led JMU's defense with 11 tackles, and he returned a second-quarter interception 18 yards from the Northeastern two-yard line after the Huskies had driven to the JMU 16.

LeZotte raised his career tackles total to 363 and during the game became the team's all-time tackles leader among defensive backs. He moved by former safety Eupton Jackson (1987-90), who had 362 career stops, and into seventh place on the team's career tackles list.

JMU is on the road for the second-straight week next Saturday (Oct. 13) when the Dukes play a 1 p.m. CAA game at Rhode Island.