THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411270216
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLIE DENN, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Football coaches like to believe that defense is what wins in the postseason.
But without some offensive production, not even the best defense will do much good. Accordingly, it was the offense that stole the show Saturday in James Madison's 45-26 victory over Troy State in the first round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.
``This was probably our most complete game of the year,'' said JMU coach Rip Scherer. ``We just wanted to give our players the chance to develop some big plays and they really responded.''
The victory sends the Dukes (10-2) into the quarterfinals next weekend when they travel to Huntington, W.Va., to play Marshall (11-1), the nation's second-ranked team.
Key for the Dukes against Troy State was the play of tailback Kelvin Jeter and quarterback Mike Cawley. Jeter, held to 56 yards in his last game, erupted for 240 yards on 25 carries, the third-highest total in school history, and scored three times.
Warren Marshall holds the JMU record with 264 yards in a 1986 game against William and Mary.
``I wasn't thinking it was going to be my day when I stepped on the field,'' said Jeter. ``I was thinking it was going to be our day.
``You don't worry about going for a 200-yard day,'' Jeter added. ``You just try to get your 4 or 5 yards every time. But this feels good.''
Jeter had touchdown runs of 6, 30 and 43 yards. It was the third time this year he's been over 100 yards rushing.
``I didn't do this by myself,'' he said. ``The blocking was outstanding all day and it made my job pretty easy.''
Cawley, meanwhile, completed 16 of 31 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns.
It was a complete reversal of fortunes for JMU's offense. Just last week, the Dukes held Northeastern to 202 yards of total offense but lost 9-6 when the offense was unable to generate a touchdown for the first time in Scherer's four-year career at JMU.
So Scherer promised to play less conservatively this week. The total offense generated by JMU, 572 yards, indicated the wraps were off.
It was JMU's top total offense this year.
``All I can say is we seemed more focused on offense this week,'' said Cawley. ``Everything was working for us. The run set up the pass and we were able to have a lot of success with play-action stuff.''
After the Dukes took a 10-0 lead early, Troy State rallied to tie the score midway through the second quarter. But a 38-yard scoring pass from Cawley to Macey Brooks put the Dukes up for good, 17-10.
Cawley's athletic ability bailed the Dukes out of a tight spot just before halftime. Facing a third and 26 from the JMU 17, he managed to scramble for 28 yards and a first down.
``That was a big play,'' said Troy State coach Larry Blakeney, ``because we were going to try to block their punt. If they don't convert that third down and we pull something off, who knows how the game would have turned out?''
Still, it was anyone's game at the half. Two JMU touchdowns in the third period, however, clearly spelled the difference.
``Down 17-10 at the half, and with us getting the ball to start the second half, we felt we were still in it,'' said Blakeney. ``We challenged our offense to come out and get something started. But we had a turnover on our first possession and that seemed to hurt our momentum.''
The Dukes' two scores kept the tide going out. First Cawley hit Ed Perry with a scoring pass. Then, after a Troy State field goal, Jeter put the game out of reach with a dazzling 30-yard scoring run in which he swept right on a pitchout. He broke one tackle near the line of scrimmage, broke away from another hit at the 20 and ran the rest of the way untouched into the end zone.
``We weren't that concerned about their running game coming in,'' said Blakeney. ``But Jeter's a great back and he made some awfully big plays.'' by CNB