STONY BROOK, N.Y. — The triumvirate wasn’t flawless, but provided power for James Madison’s offense.
“It makes us very dangerous,” Dukes running back Jawon Hamilton said. “It shows the weapons in our offensive room.”
Hamilton rushed for a career-high 105 yards and two touchdowns while his running mate Percy Agyei-Obese tallied 96 yards and two scores, helping JMU outlast Stony Brook 45-38 in overtime on Saturday. Madison wide receiver Brandon Polk hauled in four catches for a career-best 105 yards and a grab in the end zone.
“We were all focused,” Agyei-Obese said. “We knew what we had to do. Jawon played a great game. Brandon played a great game.”
The trio kept the Dukes moving as fast or as methodical as they wanted to.
Hamilton’s one-cut and 55-yard sprint past the goal line gave JMU a seven-point lead in the opening quarter. Polk’s 54-yard catch on an arcing downfield throw from quarterback Ben DiNucci set up the 12-yard scoring strike the pair connected on a few plays later in the second stanza.
The 55-yard run from Hamilton, a former starter at Central Florida before transferring to JMU, was the longest of his career and the longest play for JMU this season. The 54-yard snag from Polk, who joined the Dukes this season after playing his first four at Penn State, was the second longest play for JMU this season.
“It was exciting to get that ball,” Polk said. “When an opportunity comes, you got to make it.”
Hamilton said: “It’s definitely a great feeling, especially with all the injuries I’ve been through. So to see myself back 100 percent back to how I was in high school makes me feel very good, but it doesn’t stop here. We have a long season left, so we want to keep working.”
And Agyei-Obese said this coming week of practice be all about ball security.
Though the three shined, they all were involved in plays that denied the Dukes from burying the Seawolves in regulation.
Hamilton was part of a failed exchanged on a handoff with DiNucci that resulted in a fumble. A pass DiNucci threw bounced off Polk’s hands and into the arms of Stony Brook defensive back TJ Morrison for a Seawolves interception. Agyei-Obese fumbled in the red zone during the fourth quarter with the Dukes looking to push their lead from 10 points to 17 points.
Stony Brook capitalized with 10 points over the final 7:20 of the fourth to force overtime.
“We’re going to work on that,” Agyei-Obese said. “That’s a lot of mistakes we have to take care of this week. We’ll hit the books and get back to it.
“I know Coach [Curt Cignetti] has a lot of things in his back pocket. We’re going to figure it out, because we’ve got to eliminate those.”
Polk said JMU will work to correct those issues this week, but that in the moment on Saturday night him, Hamilton and Agyei-Obese didn’t have time to dwell on the giveaways.
“You want to limit turnovers, limit fumbles, limit interceptions,” Polk said. “But when those things come, you just have to be positive. You have to play the next play and you can’t sit there thinking about the one play because then you’re whole performance starts going down the drain, so you’ve got to be positive. Things happen in football.”
Hamilton’s 3-yard touchdown run in overtime was the game-winning score.
“I was so happy when he scored,” Polk said. “I was extremely happy, especially because we got the win, but for him too with how hard he’s been working. I’ve seen him work all the time, so I’m just really happy for him.”
