Box Score
CLEVELAND, Miss. - Travis Champion passed for 421 yards and three touchdowns to lead Delta State University (3-1, 2-0 GSC) to a 52-31 victory over Florida Tech (1-3, 0-2 GSC) Saturday, Sept. 28 at Parker Field-McCool Stadium.  A near-capacity crowd of 8,012 welcomed their Statesmen home for the first time this season after three consecutive road trips to begin the year.  

Delta State struck first on their second possession of the game as quarterback Travis Chapman opened the series with a 34 yard pass to Patrick Bethley to the Florida Tech 46.  Champion then found receiver Michael Davison on a screen and the speedster scampered the Panther 31.  After carries by Richard Freelon and D'Juan Bellaire, Champion hit running back Tim Foy on a 5-yard touchdown reception giving the Statesmen a 7-0 lead with 1:45 left in the first quarter.

Following an exchange of possessions, Florida Tech took over on its own 10 with 12:21 left in the second quarter.  After  two rushing attempts resulted in no gain, Panther quarterback Bobby Vega's pass was picked off by junior defensive back Jeremy Davis and returned 20 yards for the touchdown and giving the Statesmen a 14 – 0 lead with 11:00 remaining in the second quarter.

Florida Tech answered on its next possession with a nine play 75-yard scoring drive led by the passing of Vega who completed four-of-five passes to three different receivers before diving into the endzone himself on a 1 yard quarterback keeper, cutting the DSU lead to 14-7 with 8:35 left in the second.

The teams again exchanged possessions before Delta State took possession on its own 30. Champion found sophomore wide receiver Casey Osborne on a 26 yard strike to the Panther 29. Three plays later the Panthers were called for pass interference in the endzone on an attempted to pass from Champion to junior receiver Collin Floyd resulted in first-and-goal for the Statesmen at the Tech two yard line.  From there freshman wide receiver took the handoff on a sweep and sped into the endzone for his first touchdown as a Stateseman and extending the DSU lead to 21-7 with 2:55 left until half.

Florida Tech again answered with a scoring drive of their own.  Taking possession on their own 23 with 2:50 remaining, the Panthers put together a 13-play 56 yard scoring drive led by the hard running of redshirt freshman running back Trevor Sands and the passing of Vega driving to the Delta State 20 for a field goal attempt with 2.8 seconds remaining.  Freshman kicker Brion Ashley's  attempt was good and the score was 21-10 Statesmen to end the half.

The second half proved to be fast and furious as the Statesmen and Panthers combined for eight scoring drives.

The Statesmen took the opening possession of the second half on their own 25 and on the third play from scrimmage, Champion hit redshirt freshman running back Tim Foy on a quick pass and the Hueytown, Ala. native sprinted 64 yards for the touchdown giving Delta State a 28-10 lead 51 seconds into the second half.

The Statesmen forced a Panther three-and-out giving the Statesmen possession on their own 36 with 13:07 remaining in the third.  The Statesmen put together a 10-play drive hard nosed running of Freelon that resulted in a 31 yard field goal by freshman kicker Vincent Sciorrotta pushing the Statesmen lead to 31-10 with 10:18 remaining in the third.

After the Statesmen and Panthers turned the ball over on fumbles on successive possessions, the Panthers put together a 10-pay 72-yard scoring drive again led by the arm of Vega who completed seven passes including an 11-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Xavier Milton leaving the score 31-17 in favor of the Statesmen with 4:07 left in the third.

An errant snap on the first play of Delta State's next possession resulted in a Panther recovery on the DSU 16.  Three plays later, Panther quarterback Dan Masteller dove in from one yard out and cut the DSU lead to a tenuous 31-24 with 2:50 left in the third.

At that point, the Statesmen took control, scoring on three successive possessions.  The first drive came after the Statesmen took the Panther kick on their own 25 and drove 75 yards on 10 plays resulting in a five yard touchdown run by Freelon giving DSU a 38-24 lead with 14:16 left in the game.

The Delta State defense forced a Panther punt on their ensuing possession and took possession on their own 19 with 10:58 remaining. On the first play, Champion hit wide receiver Patrick Bethley on an 81-yard touchdown strike and the Statesmen led 45-24 with 10:44 left.

On the next Panther possession, Statesmen junior cornerback Jeremy Davis picked off a Vega pass and returned it to the DSU 48.  The Statesmen drove the remaining 52 yards on nine plays, again relying heavily on the running of Freelon before sophomore Justin McArther crashed into the endzone from two yards out extending the DSU lead to 52-24 with 8:10 remaining.

Florida Tech would not go quietly, however, as they took the ensuing possession on their own 37 and drove 63 yards on 11 plays culminating in a two yard touchdown run by Kaleb Leach that ended the scoring for the night resulting in a hard-fought 52-31 Delta State victory.

On the night, the Statesmen amassed 590 yards of offense and 32 first downs.  The Statesmen rushed 40 times for 173 yards and were 29 of 36 passing for 417 yards. 

The Statesmen were led in rushing by Freelon who rushed for 117 yards on 20 carries, followed by Foy with 39 yards on eight carries.
Quarterback Travis Champion continued his red-hot play completing 29 of 36 passes for 417 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

Foy closed the night with 106 yards receiving on six catches with two touchdowns, while rushing for 39 yards and another score.

Defensively the Statesmen were led by Frankie Lee and Richard Nash with eight tackles.  Jeremy Davis closed the night with three tackles and two interceptions.

The Statesmen hit the road again next week as they travel to Livingston, Ala. on Thursday, October 3, to take on the 14th ranked Tigers of the University of West Alabama .  Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised as the Gulf South Conference TV Live Game of the Week.  It will also be featured on the Statesmen Sports Network and GoStatesmen.com TV starting at 5:30 p.m. with the DSU Alumni Association Statesmen Game Day Report.