JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Locked in to a tight battle with the Pioneer Football Champions deep into the fourth quarter, Jacksonville University football fell 47-28 to San Diego on Senior Day at D.B. Milne Field.
The Dolphins (3-10, 1-7) were down just five with under eight minutes to play, until the Toreros turned a few turnovers into late points to pull away.
After falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter, JU forced a turnover to stop another promising San Diego drive in its tracks at the six-yard line. After being forced to punt it back, San Diego again marched down the field and scored on a 20-yard quarterback keeper to extend the advantage to 17-0.
The Dolphins rallied after that. A methodical 13-play, 76-yard drive was capped off by a 5-yard
Calvin Turner Jr. run for a score to cut it to 17-7. San Diego took over on offense with 1:46 left in the first half, and committed a holding penalty and intentional grounding on the first two plays of the drive. Jacksonville called a few timeouts and forced a punt, getting the ball back at its own 40-yard line with 52 seconds to play in the opening half. Turner Jr. hit AJ Davis over the middle on the first play and Davis did the rest, rumbling untouched 60-yards for the score to bring JU within three at the half.
San Diego started the second half with the ball and used a flea flicker to move down to the JU 15. Four plays later, Jojo Binda punched it in from a yard out to extend the Toreros advantage back out to ten, 24-14.
The Dolphins had another answer. Turner Jr. scampered for 44 yards to highlight a nine-play, 67-yard drive in which he punched it in himself from a yard out and JU was back within three, 24-21.
Another quick touchdown drive for San Diego pushed the out to nine, when the PAT was missed. Another good drive resulted in another touchdown, this time a 10-yard run by
Caleb Grimes.
JU held San Diego to a field goal, and with under 11 minutes left in the fourth, the Toreros lead was only five, 33-28.
Jacksonville picked up a first down, but on a third-and-16 from its own 30, Turner Jr. fumbled the ball away on a run, and it bounced right to a Torero defender. It took just five-plays for San Diego to score another touchdown to go up 12, 40-28, and that was all for the upset bid.
After an interception on the first play of the next drive, San Diego scored one final touchdown to round out the scoring for the day.
HODGES MAZDA PLAYER OF THE GAME
Calvin Turner Jr. ran for a season-high 172 yards and two touchdowns, while throwing for 105 yards and another score.
CHANATRY CHIROPRACTIC COACH'S COMMENT
"We played with great effort against the best team in our conference. I was proud of the way our guys battled. We got it down with a chance to win the football game, we just couldn't get it done at the end. Frankly, no one else in this conference has been able to do that against this team."
- Head Coach
Ian Shields on his team's performance following the game
NOTABLES
- Turner Jr.'s 100-yard rushing game was the eighth of the season and the 15th of his career
- Caysaun Wakeley had eight tackles, tied for the team-high on the day. He finished the season with 91 stops, good for fifth-most in single-season in JU history, and 237 career tackles, which is tied for fifth most in program history
- With four tackles on the day, Crandall Maines topped the century mark for career stops, logging 102
- Jacksonville honored its seven seniors before the game: WR Mitchell Bailey, S Jeremiah Johnson, CB CJ Lewis, OL Zack Hughes, DL Crandall Maines, LB Trey Minnifield and LB Caysaun Wakeley
