Box Score Game Coverage On SportsPage Gleaner
LEXINGTON, Va. - Fifteenth-ranked James Madison rolled up 525 yards offense and defeated VMI, 45-7, Saturday afternoon in the dedication game at Foster Stadium on homecoming weekend.
Senior tailback Alvin Banks led the JMU offensive attack with 110 yards on 20 carries and scored three rushing touchdowns in the first half.
VMI's lone score came on a 28-yard pass from freshman quarterback Kyle Hughes to sophomore wideout Willie Bell with 7:40 left in the fourth quarter.
A crowd of 8,830 fans filled the stands of VMI's newly refurbished football facility which was officially renamed Foster Stadium in a ceremony held at halftime.
Hughes, making his first college start at quarterback for the injured Jonathan Wilson who is out with a separated shoulder, completed 10 of 13 attempts for 113 yards and a touchdown.
James Madison produced points on all but two of nine possessions on the afternoon. The lone miscue was an interception thrown by JMU quarterback Justin Rascati that was picked off by VMI sophomore free safety Keith Taylor in the third quarter.
The Dukes assembled time consuming scoring drives on their first two possessions, going 63 and 75 yards for the game's first points. Banks opened the scoring with a two-yard run at the 7:11 mark of the first quarter, and placekicker David Rabil followed with a 20-yard field goal to put JMU ahead, 10-0, with 12:30 left in the second quarter.
Banks added TD runs of 13 and five yards later in the quarter to put JMU up, 24-0, at the break.
The Keydets halted JMU's first drive of the second half by interception, and after a scoreless third quarter, had the Dukes bottled up on a third and 27 from the JMU 43, but a 26-yard pass from Rascati to Banks for 26 yards followed by a 31-yard rush by Maurice Fenner on a fourth and one produced a scoring drive of 90 yards and gave JMU a 31-0 cushion with 13:52 left in the game.
Reserve back Antoinne Bolton added a 29-yard TD run at the 9:22 mark, but the Keydets answered with a six-play, 80-yard drive capped by the Hughes-Bell 28-yard touchdown strike with 7:40 left.
JMU sophomore quarterback Rodney Landers closed the scoring with a six-yard TD run.
VMI will next play Army at West Point, N.Y. next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised by ESPN Classic.
Game Stats and Coach Reid's postgame press conference can be found on links located at the bottom of this page.
