STATESBORO -- Behind 255 yards on the ground from Dominique Swope (Buford, Ga.), the Georgia Southern Football team outlasted Old Dominion in high-scoring affair 55-48 at Paulson Stadium, Saturday afternoon. The first back to rush for over 200 yards since Jason Foster did so in 2007, Swope led the Eagles to 477 yards of rushing offense.
Georgia Southern (10-2) tallied 500 or more yards of offense for the fourth time this season and finished with 607 yards of total offense. Jaybo Shaw (Flowery Branch, Ga.) added to the total with seven passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.
The game featured an Eagle touchdown followed by an Old Dominion (10-3) score for most of the contest. That trend finally ended in GSU's favor in the third quarter, The Eagles took a 41-35 lead on a Nico Hickey's (Columbus, Ga.) 13-yard run. Adrian Mora's (Dalton, Ga.) FCS consecutive extra point streak ended at 151 on the ensuing extra point, but Georgia Southern extended their lead to 49-35 with a one-yard rush by Shaw in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles would score once more on a Hickey fumble recovery in the end zone with 2:03 to play and outlasted the Monarchs in the final quarter. Taylor Heinicke was responsible for two scores in the fourth quarter. The first a 19-yard pass to Prentice Gill and the other a 20-yard scamper with 39 seconds remaining.
Heinickie accounted for most of the team's 560 total yards, passing for 341 yards on 25 completions. The Georgia native carried the ball seven times for 75 yards and a score on the ground. Gill caught eight passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns.
Old Dominion tied up the game with 26 seconds remaining in the half on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Heinicke to Antonio Vaughan. The Eagles scored with two minutes remaining in the quarter on a 24-yard pass reception by Kentrellis Showers (Dublin, Ga.).
Wednesday
July 2nd, 2025
1:12AM
