{"id":11272,"date":"2019-11-17T21:12:26","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T02:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11272"},"modified":"2019-11-17T21:12:27","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T02:12:27","slug":"dukes-stomp-spiders-48-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11272","title":{"rendered":"Dukes Stomp Spiders 48-6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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That was a fun game. Not only did our beloved JMU Dukes destroy the RU Spiders by the score of 48-6, but in doing so they also clinched another CAA Football Championship. It’s the Dukes’ fourth outright title in the past five seasons. And the victory was the 47th for this year’s senior class. That’s the most wins in JMU Football history for any single class. It moved them one ahead of both the classes of 2018 and 2017. Oh, and the win also completely crushed whatever slim chance RU had of making the playoffs. In short, it was a good game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Was My Favorite Part<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nooch linked up with Brandon Polk on one of the smoothest 80 yard pitch and catch plays you could ever draw up. Polk caught it in stride and then used his game-breaking speed to do the rest. 80 yard touchdown and the Dukes were off. It came just one play after JMU recovered a Spider fumble. And it was followed by the Spiders fumbling the kickoff. Just like the coaches drew it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Thing I Loved<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As efficient as Nooch and the passing game was, the running game wasn’t far behind. Juwon Hamilton gained yards by the chunk (that’s a technical football term). He didn’t do anything fancy. He just busted through arm tackles and ran North-South to the tune of 80 yards on only 10 carries. And this week the role of “Running Back From Further Down the Depth Chart Who Gets Carries and Shows He Too is Good” was played by Eric Kirlew. He took advantage of his opportunity and ran for 49 yards on 6 carries. Overall, the offense looked very steady and like it’s starting to click on all cylinders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, This Was Cool Too<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against New Hampshire, we thought Dimitri Holloway’s ejection ended up being a bit of a hidden blessing because of the way it seemed to spark the defense. It also did something for Holloway, because he returned yesterday to have a completely dominant performance. He had 15 tackles in addition to recovering a fumble. He was far from the only JMU defender to play well however. We’re not sure if it was film study, or just guys finding themselves in the right place at the right time, but both Rashad Robinson and Wayne Davis rushed in from the secondary to make huge tackles for loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Fantastic Trend<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things ebb and flow, but after years of trading wins, there’s been a huge gap between these programs the past 2 seasons. JMU has outscored the Spiders 109-16 in the last two contests. That kind of speaks for itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riley Trucking Some Dudes Made Me Smile<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Stapleton was mean to a some Richmond defenders. Really mean. He just ran them over. Literally. And it was definitely intentional. To be fair though, they were standing between him and the endzone and he really likes getting into the endzone after he catches the ball. So he just ran them over and scored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Real Though, This Was My Favorite Part<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was pretty much the<\/em> dagger moment in a game full of dagger moments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n