MAYVILLE – After Jamestown aided a Mayville State comeback, the Jimmies came up with their clutch play of the season to achieve a winning streak.
John Grann hit Isaiah Roebuck with a 73-yard touchdown pass with 4:54 remaining Saturday and University of Jamestown Football won its second consecutive game, 21-14 over Mayville State at Jerome Berg Field.
The winning play, Grann’s second touchdown pass of the season and Roebuck’s first touchdown reception of the campaign, came just minutes after a muffed punt return by Roebuck.
After that, Mayville State then drove to the Jimmies’ two yard line before Jamestown (2-6, 2-4 NSAA) gained the football back on a fumble recovery by Ezra Belingheri. The Jimmies’ offense then stalled, then special teams made another mistake. A punt snap hit one of the UJ blocking backs, leading to a fumble recovery at the Jamestown one. Jack Simmers scored from a yard out three plays later and the game was tied at 14-14 with 6:43 left.
Following the Jimmies’ go-ahead score, Mayville State (4-4, 3-3 NSAA) failed on a fourth down at their own 28, but Jamestown couldn’t put the game away. Richard Shelton recovered a fumble for Mayville State with 1:39 left.
However, the Comets were forced to fourth down and a Jack Young sack of Dylan LaMont allowed Jamestown to run out the final 52 seconds.
Belingheri, who had never scored a touchdown for Jamestown before running back a fumble for a score in a home win over Dakota State on October 19, scored again for the first points at Mayville State. Belingheri intercepted a LaMont pass and ran it back 39 yards for a touchdown with 7:07 remaining in the first half. UJ led 7-0 at halftime.
After Ray Benners returned the second-half opening kickoff 30 yards, the Jimmies drove 59 yards to double their lead. 38 of those yards were on a Zach Hammett run to the Mayville eight. Hammett scored from three yards out four plays later.
Mayville punted, but then Grann was intercepted by the Comets’ Jordan Richardson, whose 23-yard touchdown return put MSU on the board, down 14-7 with 5:44 left in the third quarter.
Jamestown won despite six turnovers, three interceptions by Grann and three lost fumbles. But the Jimmies’ defense was staunch, limiting Mayville State to only 122 yards of total offense. Hammett rushed for a career-high 116 yards. Grann passed for 147 yards. Roebuck had 77 yards in receptions. Jed Rantz led Jamestown’s defense with nine tackles. Parker Chafee and Belingheri had eight each.
Shelton had 13 tackles for Mayville State.
Jamestown has back-to-back wins for the first time since October of last year.
Hammett became the Jimmies’ first 100-yard rusher in 47 games. Allen Jenving had been the last UJ player to hit triple digits, rushing for 108 yards in a 13-10 Jamestown overtime win over Concordia (NE) on October 5, 2019 at Hansen Stadium.
Jamestown will host nationally-ranked Dickinson State on Saturday at Rollie Greeno Field at Charlotte & Gordon Hansen Stadium. Coverage will begin at 2:30 PM on Saturday on The Voice of the Jimmies, Jamestown 107.1.
| UJ | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Mayville St | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
SECOND QUARTER
UJ – Ezra Belingheri 39-yard interception return TD 7:07 (Aanon Peterson XP) – 7-0 UJ
THIRD QUARTER
UJ – Zach Hammett 3-yard TD run 11:46 (Peterson XP) – 14-0 UJ – 6 plays, 59 yards, 3:07 – Key play: Hammett 38-yard run to Mayville St 8
Mayville St – Jordan Richardson 23-yard interception return TD 5:44 (Kaden Johnson XP) – 14-7 UJ
FOURTH QUARTER
Mayville St – Jack Simmers 1-yard TD run 6:43 (Johnson XP) – 14-14 – Key play: Mayville St recovered fumble at UJ 1 after bad snap in punt formation
UJ – John Grann 73-yard TD pass to Isaiah Roebuck 4:54 (Peterson XP) – 21-14 UJ – 3 plays, 70 yards, 1:27
Individual Statistics
RUSHING
UJ: Hammett 17-116-1 TD, Carlos Julian 12-54, Grann 4-4, Gavin Blomdahl 1-1, Colton Schneider 1-1, Ethan Hoffman 2-0, TEAM 2-(-12)
Mayville St: Simmers 14-33-1 TD, Daniel Nevil 9-27, Mason Ollman 5-23, Javeion Davison 3-12, Aiden Marcussen 1-2, Bailey Mullenberg 1-1, Dylan LaMont 1-(-7)
PASSING
UJ: Grann 8-18-147-1 TD-3 INT
Mayville St: Marcussen 5-7-23, LaMont 5-12-16-1 INT, Maalik Flowers 1-1-(-8)
RECEIVING
UJ: Roebuck 2-77-1 TD, Hoffman 2-28, Caleb Powell 1-24, Erastus Antsino 2-12, Colton Schumacher 1-6
Mayville St: Davison 4-22, Ollman 3-15, Kelby Azure 2-2, Darrick Frederick 1-0, Marcussen 1-(-8)
| UJ | Mayville St | |
| First Downs | 15 | 8 |
| Rushing | 39/164 | 34/91 |
| Passing | 147 | 31 |
| Total Yds | 311 | 122 |
| Att/Comp/Int | 8/18/3 | 11/20/1 |
| Punts/avg | 1/33.0 | 7/36.1 |
| Fumbles/lost | 3/3 | 1/1 |
| Penalties/Yds | 7/36 | 9/69 |
| Time of possession | 29:44 | 30:16 |