Last Updated on December 1, 2024 9:53 am
STATESBORO, Ga. — App State Football kept working to erase an early deficit, finally gaining possession with a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but Georgia Southern used a late touchdown to produce additional separation in a 29-20 home victory Saturday night.
Needing a victory to become bowl eligible, the Mountaineers finished an 11-game season at 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the Sun Belt Conference. They had one home game canceled by the impact of Hurricane Helene in late September.
Georgia Southern followed the win with some scoreboard watching, as a Marshall loss at James Madison would clinch a share of the Sun Belt’s East Division title and a spot in the Sun Belt Championship Game against Louisiana for the Eagles (8-4, 6-2). They won the head-to-head meeting in the regular season with the Thundering Herd.
Running back Ahmani Marshall closed the season with his fifth straight 100-yard game, rushing for 127 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, while Makai Jackson had eight catches for 157 yards and a score in his second straight game with 150-plus yards. Eli Wilson also caught a touchdown pass from Joey Aguilar, who finished a second straight 3,000-yard passing season with 290 yards on 19 completions.
Defensively, the Mountaineers recorded both of their takeaways shortly after miscues in Georgia Southern’s favor, including Joshua Donald recovering a fumble forced by Michael Fletcher after a third-quarter interception. Nate Johnson had 2.0 sacks, producing a key one to give the Mountaineers possession not long after a 38-yard field goal attempt ended with a high snap.
App State trailed 22-13 with 10:10 left in the fourth quarter at that point, but Johnson recovered a fumble after he forced a sack while converging with Donald on quarterback JC French. Jackson’s 40-yard reception to the 1 on the next play set up Marshall’s touchdown run to cut Georgia Southern’s lead to 22-20 with 8:16 remaining.
Thomas Davis’ sack on second down and Santana Hopper’s shoestring stop of French forced a three-and-out punt, giving App State possession with a chance to take the lead for the first time all night, but the Mountaineers were forced into a three-and-out punt of their own.
The Eagles took over at their 16 with 3:52 left and recorded two first downs prior to the two-minute timeout, with App State still possessing all three of its timeouts. App State called timeout after the first of two short runs, but a dead-ball personal foul after the second-down rush put the Mountaineers in an extremely difficult predicament, and Jalen White broke loose for a 35-yard touchdown run on a third-and-7 carry into the end zone with 1:05 left.
A made extra point extended the margin to a two-possession spread. App State moved to the Georgia Southern 26 in time to set up a late field goal attempt — with hopes of converting and then recovering an onside kick to create a Hail Mary opportunity — but the 44-yard kick sailed wide.
The Mountaineers went 4-1 at home this season, including three straight home victories following their late-October return to Kidd Brewer Stadium, but App State finished 0-4 in Sun Belt road games.
Georgia Southern won the toss Saturday night, elected to receive and became the sixth App State opponent to score a touchdown on the game’s opening drive. It was the third time an opponent had scored a touchdown after taking the ball instead of deferring.
A two-point conversion run from the holder out of a spread-out alignment pushed the lead to 8-0, and Johnson’s sack to end the first quarter eventually led to a punt that preceded App State’s first scoring drive. Marshall had six carries for 49 yards on a 61-yard touchdown march that ended with Aguilar’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Wilson midway through the second quarter.
A tying two-point pass attempt didn’t succeed, and after App State forced a punt in response to a Georgia Southern interception, the Eagles extended their lead to 15-6 on White’s 4-yard touchdown run with 2:51 remaining before halftime.
The end of the first half and start of the second half were characterized by costly missed opportunities.
App State advanced from its 28 to first-and-goal territory at the Georgia Southern 10 with 21 seconds left before halftime. Two incompletions led up to Aguilar’s 9-yard pass to Wilson, who stepped out of bounds just before extending the ball past the front-right pylon with seven seconds left. The Eagles stuffed Marshall’s fourth-and-goal carry from the 1 and ended the half with a forward sneak to avoid a potential safety.
Receiving to start the second half, the Mountaineers reached the Georgia Southern 19 before committing a turnover on an interception. Like it had after a first-half turnover, the defense came through with an important stop, regaining possession at its 35 when Donald recovered the fumble caused by Fletcher on a quarterback scramble.
Aguilar’s 31-yard pass to Wilson on a fourth-and-6 play from the Georgia Southern 37 — Wilson caught the ball at the 29 before stepping through a tackle attempt and running down the left sideline — set up another scoring opportunity. Aguilar lofted a pass over a defender to an open Jackson for a 6-yard score on a third-and-goal connection with 4:33 left in the third quarter, and Michael Hughes’ extra point cut the deficit to 15-13.
Georgia Southern answered with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive lasting nearly six minutes — each of the first five touchdown drives in the game covered more than five minutes. The Eagles had a pair of third-and-short conversions on that series and followed French’s 19-yard keeper with White’s 3-yard touchdown run.
App State had a chance to make it a one-possession game with about 10 minutes remaining, but flags waved off made field goals from 38 yards (defensive delay of game) and 33 yards (false start). A high snap prevented a third attempt, but that didn’t deter the Mountaineers from giving themselves another chance at a comeback that ultimately fell short.
