Box Score PHOTO GALLERY

JACKSONVILLE, Ala.—The 18^th-ranked Samford football team fell behind early and never could catch up on its way to a 55-14 loss at 20^th-ranked Jacksonville State in the first round of the Division I-FCS Playoffs Saturday night at Burgess-Snow Field.
 
With the loss Samford ends its season with a record of 8-5. The Bulldogs won a share of the Southern Conference title with a 6-2 league mark. The playoff appearance was the first for Samford since 1992.
 
Jacksonville State improves to 10-3 with the win. The Gamecocks will advance to take on McNeese State in the second round of the playoffs next Saturday in Lake Charles, La.
 
"Obviously, this was very disappointing for us," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "Congratulations to Bill (Clark) and Jacksonville State. They have a good football team. I didn't think we played our best, we should've been more competitive today. But, sometimes that's the way it goes."
 
For Samford in the loss, Jeremiaha Gates rushed 13 times for 63 yards, while Stanley Robinson rushed six times for 27 yards. Gates also caught three passes for 29 yards. The Bulldogs were playing without injured starting tailback Fabian Truss.
 
Senior quarterback Andy Summerlin completed 7-of-24 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown. Kelvin Clay had one catch for 37 yards and a touchdown. Defensively for Samford, Jaquiski Tartt led the way with 12 tackles. Justin Cooper had 11 tackles, and Trey Wesley and Justin Shade had nine tackles each.
 
For Jacksonville State, DeMarcus James rushed 22 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Eli Jenkins rushed 12 times for 115 yards and a touchdown, and he completed 11-of-19 passes for 115 yards and a score. Defensively for JSU, Rashad Smith had eight tackles, including 1.5 sacks.  
 
Jacksonville State jumped on top first. James scored on a two-yard run off of a direct snap to give the Gamecocks a 7-0 lead with 11:00 to go in the first quarter.
 
The Gamecocks added to their lead when Jenkins ran for a 72-yard touchdown to make the score 14-0 with 8:30 left in the first period. JSU made the score 17-0 when Griffin Thomas kicked a 37-yard field goal with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, Jacksonville State's Telvin Brown scored on a 47-yard touchdown run to make the score 24-0 with 8:47 to go in the second quarter. James scored his second touchdown of the game, this one from one-yard out with 2:42 to go in the second quarter to make the score 31-0. JSU added one final score before halftime when Miles Jones scored on a 12-yard run with 1:27 left to send the Gamecocks to halftime with a 38-0 lead.
 
Early in the third quarter, JSU's Brown scored on a 67-yard run to make the score 45-0 with 14:37 left in the quarter. Samford put its first points on the scoreboard when Summerlin hit Clay for a 37-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 45-7 with 11:31 left in the third quarter. JSU's Thomas kicked a 47-yard field goal with 6:41 left in the third quarter to push the Gamecocks' lead to 48-7.
 
JSU added one fourth-quarter score when Robert Gray scored on a one-yard run to make the score 55-7 with 6:34 to go. Samford's Tony Philpot put the final points on the scoreboard when he hauled in a pass on a trick play from Karel Hamilton with 2:36 to go to make the final score 55-14.
 
As a team, Samford managed just 201 yards of total offense, while Jacksonville State rolled up 482 total yards. The Gamecocks rushed for 367 yards, while holding Samford to just 93 yards on the ground.