Fighting for a chance

Teams strive to be successful. Some colleges want to win for a decade while others are just happy with back-to-back winning seasons. Eastern has proven to be both consistent and dominant over their 31 consecutive winning seasons dating back to 1978. The Colonels face the chance of having that streak broken this coming weekend."Keeping this streak going is very important to us," head coach Dean Hood said. "It is in our mind and we are going to do our best to keep it alive."

Eastern (5-5, 5-2 OVC) will travel on the road to face the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State (7-3, 5-1 OVC). The Colonels need to win to extend their winning season streak to 32.

The Colonels are coming off a surprising loss to Western Carolina in which the Catamounts scored 24 unanswered to come away with the victory.

Jacksonville State is coming off a 55-28 win over Tennessee Tech, its third in a row and seven of their last eight. The Gamecock offense piled up 584 yards on Tennessee Tech including 351 on the ground.

A win will not only give the Colonels their 32nd straight winning season but also a possibility for another OVC title. Eastern needs to win this game and have Eastern Illinois lose to 3-7 overall Tennessee State. If this scenario happens two teams will share the OVC title.

Jacksonville State, who is ineligible for the OVC Championship due to APR (Academic Progress Rate) penalties, has proven to not only be one of the best teams in the OVC, but also all of the FCS. The Gamecocks are currently ranked No. 15 in the latest FCS coaches' poll. Their offense is averaging 430 yards and 35 points per game on the season.

Quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, who was named Louisiana's Mr. Football and Louisiana Gatorade player of the Year, leads Jacksonville State. He was heavily recruited by Texas and LSU as one of the nation's top football prospects. Once signing day came around he chose to attend LSU over Texas. Perrilloux played sparingly with the Tigers but helped them win a national championship by starting in the SEC championship and leading LSU to victory.

He has moved on to the Gamecocks and is making OVC defenses cringe every time he drops back to throw.

Perrilloux has thrown for 2154 yards while completing 59 percent of his passes. He has also thrown 22 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Perrilloux has won the OVC Player of the Week award five times this season.

Jacksonville state has a pair of running backs that have split the load of carries this season. Sophomore Calvin Middleton has rushed for 531 yards and four touchdowns for the Gamecocks. The other back is Junior Jamal Young, who has 496 rushing yards to go along with his four rushing touchdowns.

Eastern won last year's battle 38-35 in Richmond. Both offenses racked up their yards and points in the shoot-out. The story of the game was turnovers. The Colonels picked off five of Perrilloux's passes to help slow down their powerful offense.

Eastern is 0-4 on the season when the defense does not force a turnover.