STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — Jalen White had 125 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 18 carries to help Georgia Southern beat Appalachian State 29-20 Saturday night in the regular season finale for both teams.
Georgia Southern (8-4, 6-2 Sun Belt) kept alive its hopes for a berth in Sun Belt Championship game on Dec. 7. The Eagles can win the East Division and play Louisiana-Lafayatte for the title if James Madison beats Marshall later Saturday.
JC French threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Josh Dallas with 8:47 left in the first quarter. Holder Matthew Daniel, also Georgia Southern’s punter, took a snap in a swinging-gate formation and ran for the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0 and the Eagles never trailed.
Joey Aguilar threw a 9-yard TD pass to Eli Wilson with almost 9 minutes left in the second quarter but Appalachian State failed to get the 2-point conversion and the Mountaineers trailed 8-6.
White scored on a run from the 4 to cap an 11-play, 84-yard drive with 2:51 left in the second quarter and gave the Eagles a 15-6 lead at halftime.
Aguilar hit Makai Jackson in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown that made it a two-point game late in the third quarter but Georgia Southern responded when White ran for a 3-yard TD early in the fourth quarter.
Appalachian State (5-6, 3-5) lined up for a short field-goal attempt but a high snap recovered at the Georgia State 43 gave the Eagles possession. On third-and-3, Nate Johnson jumped on a fumble caused by his strip-sack of French, Aguilar hit Jackson for 40-yard gain to the 1 and Ahmani Marsh ran it in to make it 22-20 with 8:16 to play.
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