Oct. 21, 2006

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Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team fell behind early and its comeback fell just short as the Bulldogs fell, 10-6, to the 16th-ranked Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks in Samford's Homecoming game Saturday at Seibert Stadium. The loss was Samford's first to UT Martin since 1988.

"It's very tough, every yard out there was hard to earn," Samford head coach Bill Gray said. "I think we will look back on this as a day of opportunities. We took advantage of some and we didn't take advantage of some. It was just a very tough, hard-fought game on both sides of the ball."

For Samford (3-5, 1-4 OVC), Marcus Rice rushed 12 times for 67 yards. Alex Mortensen completed 6-of-16 passes for 73 yards and an interception, while Jefferson Adcock completed 6-of-17 passes for 68 yards and an interception. Freddy Young caught five passes for 53 yards. Jay McCurty tallied a game-high nine tackles, while Rodney Shepherd forced a fumble and recovered one as well.

Tennessee-Martin (6-1, 3-0 OVC) was led by Don Chapman with 24 rushes for 96 yards and a touchdown. Markeseo Jackson led the UTM defense with eight tackles and a fumble recovery.

Tennessee-Martin got on the scoreboard first when Chapman scored on a 12-yard run with 8:26 to go in the first quarter. Taylor Brown's PAT gave the Skyhawks a 7-0 lead. Chapman's touchdown was set up by a 66-yard run by quarterback Dexter Anoka earlier in the drive. The Skyhawks made the score 10-0 when Brown kicked a 21-yard field goal with 3:11 left in the first quarter.

Samford cut the UT Martin lead to 10-3 when Shannon Fleming kicked a 22-yard field goal with 4:26 left in the second quarter.

Fleming added another field goal, this one from 38 yards out with 6:07 left in the third quarter to cut the Skyhawk lead to 10-6.

Samford drove to the UT Martin 37-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but came up just short when Mortensen hit David Lee for an eight-yard gain on a fourth-and-nine play.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 28, when the Bulldogs play at Tennessee State. The game is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff from Nashville's LP Field.