Ga. Southern Wins Sixth I-AA Crown

Georgia Southern hadn't moved the ball most of the second half in a driving rain, couldn't stop Montana, and lost the lead in the fourth quarter. Coach Paul Johnson never worried.

Maybe because he had Adrian Peterson.

The junior running back rushed 23 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns, including a 57-yarder for the clinching TD, as the Eagles edged top-ranked Montana 27-25 Saturday for a second straight and record sixth Division I-AA championship overall.

"I never did feel it was slipping away," said Johnson, who has 50 victories in his first four seasons as coach.

It wasn't easy for Georgia Southern (13-2), playing in the title game for a third straight year. Montana (13-2) rolled up 487 yards total offense compared to 390 for the Eagles, who had just 72 yards in the second half.

The Eagles led 20-3 at halftime, but Montana scored 20 unanswered points to get back into the game after losing their All-American quarterback Drew Miller to an injury in the first quarter.

Yohance Humphery's 2-yard run put the Grizzlies up 23-20 early in the fourth quarter when Johnson told his coaches in the booth the Eagles had to answer. Peterson took a handoff up the middle and then broke toward the left sideline for the TD with 11:29 left for a 27-23 lead.

"It felt good to get back on top," Eagles quarterback J.R. Revere said. "We realized then it was do-or-die time. I felt like personally once he scored, I was confident our defense was going to hold them out."

Peterson now has rushed for at least 100 yards in each of his 43 college games and he has two championships.

"He shook off our tackle, and he's footloose and fancy-free in the secondary and he's gone," Montana coach Joe Glenn said. "He's a tremendous football player. He was the difference in the game."

Georgia Southern made it interesting by managing just 19 yards in the third quarter and then losing two fumbles deep in its own territory in the fourth quarter. But Ryan Hadden intercepted a pass by backup quarterback John Edwards to stop one drive, and linebacker Joe Scott broke up a fourth-and-6 pass to Jimmy Farris with 1:15 left to preserve the victory.

The Eagles looked like they had the game put away early after rushing for more yards on the opening possession (80) than Montana's defense had been allowing per game (77). Not even a bobbled handoff from Revere to Peterson at the goal line could hurt them as tackle James McCoy recovered in the end zone.

Montana had one last chance when Georgia Southern ran out of the end zone for a safety with 15 seconds left, but Edwards' pass fell to the ground as time expired.

Montana lost Miller at the end of the first quarter when he sprained a ligament in his right knee when sacked by Jamar Jones.

Montana stopped Peterson in spurts. He got just 6 yards in the first quarter and 3 in the third, but did give the Eagles a 20-3 lead wih a 1-yard TD run just before halftime.

Edwards started Montana's scoring spurt with a 17-yard TD pass to Etu Molden. Vince Huntsberger bobbled a fake punt and ran the ball 65 yards for a touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and Humphery scored on a 2-yard run five plays after Montana's Justin Brannon recovered a fumble for a 23-20 lead.

Montana kicker Chris Snyder missed two extra-point attempts and had a 47-yarder blocked.

Johnson is 50-8 since arriving at Georgia Southern in 1997.

"We'll put a lot of pressure on next year's team," Johnson said. "They don't want to be the ones to break the trend."

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