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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Running back JJ Jude tallied four touchdowns while wide receiver Devin Borders chipped in with two touchdown catches as the Eastern Kentucky University football team earned a 56-24 victory at Morehead State Saturday night. This was the first meeting between the long-time rivals in Morehead since 1993.

Jude, a redshirt freshman out of Hagerhill, Ky., carried the ball 33 times for 195 yards. He registered three scoring runs in the first half and added a 17-yard touchdown burst in the fourth quarter to make the score 42-24. Meanwhile, Borders, a redshirt freshman from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., hauled in nine catches for 133 yards to go along with the two touchdowns. He is the first Colonel to reach 100 yards receiving this season.

The first half was back-and-forth with Eastern (2-2) taking a 21-14 lead into intermission. The Colonels reached the red zone five times in the first two quarters, but came away empty on two occasions.

Morehead State (0-4) put together a 71-yard scoring drive in the waning minutes of the first half to cut the deficit to seven points. EKU tried to answer with a quick scoring drive of its own, but tossed an interception in the end zone with six seconds left on the clock.

The Eagles made the game really interesting at the start of the third quarter by notching a 43-yard field goal on their opening possession to creep within four points at 21-17.

However, Eastern Kentucky turned the game around after the field goal. Eastern's offense scored touchdowns on five of its six possessions in the second half while defense forced two turnovers and blocked a punt.

Four different Colonels scored in the second half led by two touchdown receptions from Borders. Running backs Thomas Owens and Jared Sanders also found the end zone.

EKU racked up a season-high 606 yards of total offense with 345 yards coming on the ground and 261 through the air. Junior quarterback Jared McClain finished 17-of-26 passing for 250 yards and two touchdowns.

On defense, junior safety Brandon Stanley led the Colonels with eight tackles in his first game this season. He missed the first three games with an injury. Senior linebacker Tyler Horn added nine tackles of his own plus an interception.

Eastern Kentucky opens Ohio Valley Conference play next Saturday, Sept. 28 at defending league champion Eastern Illinois. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. ET.

NOTES
--Running back JJ Jude equaled a program record with four rushing touchdowns against the Eagles. He is the ninth Colonel overall to register four rushing touchdowns and first since Mark Dunn against Southeast Missouri on Oct. 22, 2005.

--EKU has now won eight straight meetings against Morehead State and leads the all-time series by a count of 51-16-4. Eastern has not lost in Morehead since 1971. These teams first met in 1924.

--The Colonels blocked two punts and also converted two fake punts for first downs. On one of the fake punts, punter Jordan Berry kicked the ball to teammate Trey Thomas for a lateral..