The #1-ranked Dukes of James Madison jumped out to a 35-0 halftime lead and never looked back on the way to a 56-0 CAA victory over the Hofstra Pride at Bridgeforth Stadium Saturday afternoon. With their fifth consecutive win the Dukes improve to 5-1 overall and a South Division-leading 3-0 in the CAA. The Pride, who had their two-game winning streak snapped, fall to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in conference action.
The Pride, who were held to just 195 yards on offense, including just 67 on the ground, were led by quarterback Cory Christopher, who completed 21 of 34 passes for 128 yards. Sophomore receiver Aaron Weaver tallied a career-high nine receptions for 47 yards. James Madison was led by quarterback Rodney Landers, who completed 7 of 13 passes for 92 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for a game-high 133 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries. The Dukes tallied 375 yards on offense.
The Pride got the first break of the game as they kicked off to JMU. Dukes senior up-man Patrick Ward took the kick and fumbled on the Dukes 41-yard line with Pride freshman Chris Edmond falling on the fumble. But Hofstra could not move the ball and Pride junior punter Shane Casciano had his punt attempt blocked by junior Rockeed McCarter. Freshman Corwin Acker picked up the loose ball at the Hofstra 16 and ran it into the end zone. Dave Stennard's point-after attempt was good giving the Dukes a 7-0 lead just 1:48 into the contest.
JMU boosted its lead to 14-0 on its next possession as senior quarterback Rodney Landers engineered a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 3-yard scoring run by senior tailback Eugeen Holloman. Landers rushed three times in the drive for 31 yards and hit McCarter for a big 27-yard gain on a third-and-11 play. Stannard's extra-point gave the Dukes a two touchdown lead with 7:17 to play in the first quarter. That touchdown would be the start of four straight scoring possessions for the James Madison.
Landers, who had 122 rushing yards by halftime, engineered another long drive, this time 77-yards in 11 plays and hit McCarter with a 7-yard scoring pass to boost the lead to 21-0 after Stannard's extra-point just 36 seconds into the second quarter. Landers picked up 39 yards rushing and another 15 passing. After Hofstra was forced to punt on its next series, Landers made quick work hitting Griff Yancey for a 49-yard touchdown pass to cap a 5-play, 59-yard drive with 9:29 to play in the half.
The Dukes closed out the scoring in the first half as Landers topped off a 6-play, 78-yard drive with a 45-yard scoring run with 5:06 to play in the half for a 35-0 halftime advantage. Hofstra had just 85 yards at halftime and did not have a possession longer than 20 yards. JMU racked up 284 yards, including 194 rushing, at the intermission.
James Madison added three touchdowns in the second half as: Landers hit McCarter for a 4-yard scoring pass with 3:30 to play in the third quarter; Ronnell Brown picked off Christopher and returned the interception 44-yards for a score to boost the lead to 49-0 eight seconds into the fourth quarter; and Drew Dudzik scored on a 25-yard run with 2:00 to play.
The Pride will return to action next Saturday, October 11 when they travel to Lewisburg, PA where they will meet the Bison of Bucknell University in a non-conference match-up at 1 p.m.
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