Box Score CLEVELAND, Mississippi - Delta State University football picked up the first home victory of the season over Central State University, 72-8.  The game marked a victory for the Statesmen in the first game ever against a team from the state of Ohio.

After holding the Marauder offense to a FG attempt on the opening drive, the Statesmen tackled the holder for a loss on fourth down after a bad snap. 
 

Delta State (3-0, 1-0 GSC) marched 72 yards in 10 plays before D'Juan Bellaire scored his second touchdown of the season from two yards out.  Vince Sciorrotta added the extra point to put the Statesmen ahead, 7-0.  Tyler Sullivan found Jarvis York for a 20 yard scoring strike on the next drive after driving the offense 73 yards in four plays in just 81 seconds.  Another Sciorrotta kick had DSU ahead 14-0.

After forcing Central State (1-3, 1-1 SIAC) to another first quarter punt, Eddie McCadney carried the ball on back-to-back plays for 21 yards before Sullivan connected with Casey Osborne on a 34 yard touchdown.  Sciorrotta added another PAT to give the Statesmen a 21-0 lead with 4:24 remaining in the opening quarter.

Delta State added another first quarter score with a Timothy Foy scoring run from three yards out.  Sciorrotta added his fourth PAT to give DSU the 28-0 lead after 15 minutes of play.

Central State found the end zone with 11:22 remaining to play in the second quarter when Terrence Wafford connected with Christopher Murray on a two yard scoring pass.  Jordan Howard blocked his second PAT attempt in two weeks, keeping the score at 28-6.

Diego Lubin sacked the Marauder quarterback at the CSU three yard line and forced a fumble that Artavius Morgan jumped on.  Jerome Stewart rushed from three yards out and Sciorrotta added the point after for the 35-6 lead with just nine minutes to play before halftime.

McCadney capped off a DSU 10 play drive that covered 80 yards in just 3:42 with a 21 yard scoring rush.  Sciorrotta added the PAT to make the score 42-6 with 2:56 remaining in the opening half.

Trey Shaw wrapped up the half by forcing a fumble at the 10 yard line that Wilson Curtis advanced 10 yards.  DSU took over and took a knee to go into halftime with a 42-6 lead.

Foy started off the scoring in the second half by rushing up the middle for 32 yards, Sciorrotta added the extra point to make the score 49-6.  The Statesmen covered 80 yards in nine plays, taking just 2:24 off the game clock.

Sciorrotta connected on a career-long 47 yard FG attempt with 8:47 remaining in the third quarter.   The kick wrapped up a six play drive that covered 23 yards.
 

McCadney found the end zone again, scoring from 19 yards, after the Statesmen covered 40 yards in four plays in just 98 seconds.  The extra point gave DSU the 59-6 advantage that carried over to the fourth quarter.

Jordan Howard provided a special team score by returning a punt 46 yards for a touchdown, the first punt return for a score since the 2008 season.  Sciorrotta had his PAT attempt blocked and CSU returned the loose ball 98 yards for two points.

After the Delta State kick coverage unit forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, the third turnover forced in the last two games by the coverage unit, Trace Bray scored his first career rushing touchdown from eight yards.  Sciorrotta added his ninth PAT of the game to cap the scoring at 72-8.

Sullivan went 15-for-19 for 241 yards and a pair of touchdown passes, Travis Champion and Morgan Fennell combined to finish the game behind center.

Patrick Bethley hauled in four receptions for 90 yards while Osborne added four grabs for 76 yards and the lone touchdown.  The Statesmen offense took to the ground in this game, rushing 55 times for 270 yards as a team with seven rushing scores.  McCadney and Bellaire each rushed 11 times, McCadney totaled 86 yards and two scores while Bellaire covered 69 yards and one score.  Bray led the offense with 12 carries while Foy rushed eight time for 58 yards.

Jon Knox paced the defense with eight tackles while Lawrence Hopkins had seven, each safety also had a tackle for loss.  Rory Island recorded three tackles in the game, the senior linebacker has now recorded 150 stops in his career at Delta State.

The Statesmen will return to action in Gulf South Conference road play on October 2 from Melbourne, Fla., as Delta State will travel to Florida Tech with the game set to start at 6 p.m. on GSC-TV.