De'KovenWare_FB_101015
38
Winner Delta State DSU 5-1 , 1-1
17
Shorter Unversity SU 2-3 , 1-1
Winner
Delta State DSU
5-1 , 1-1
38
Final
17
Shorter Unversity SU
2-3 , 1-1
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
DSU Delta State 0 21 3 14 38
SU Shorter Unversity 7 3 7 0 17

Game Recap: Football | | Caroline George

Statesmen Force Five Turnovers in 38-17 Victory Over Shorter

 ROME, Georgia – Delta State University football gained the lead in the second quarter and never looked back en route to a 38-17 victory against Shorter University on Saturday afternoon.

The Basics
  • Score:  Statesmen 38, Hawks 17
  • Records: No. 17/10 Delta State (5-1, 1-1 GSC), Shorter (2-3, 1-1 GSC)
  • Date: Saturday, Oct. 10 | 1:30 p.m. (EST) Kickoff
  • Location: Barron Stadium | Rome, Ga.
  • Series: Statesmen lead 3-1.
 
How It Happened
 
Offense:
  • Shorter opened the scoring on its first possession, using seven plays to march 66 yards into the end zone. The drive resulted in a 37-yard rushing touchdown from SU's Kartez Carr, giving the Hawks he 7-0 edge.
  • DSU's special teams put the Statesmen on the board early in the second quarter, tying the game at 7-7. On the play, junior linebacker D'Quan Bates blocked the attempt from David Thompson, scooped up the loose ball and took it to the house.
  • D'Juan Bellaire's big 23-yard gain, a season long, midway through the second quarter put the Green-and-White in great field position. Six plays later, DSU found the end zone on a Justin Leavy one-yard quarterback keeper. The running backs combined for 52 yards on the drive, putting the lead in DSU's possession for the first time in the contest, 14-7 with 7:42 to go before half.
  • True freshman Tyler Cameron used two big passes to Collin Floyd (16 yards) and Jarvis York (57 yards) to put the Statesmen in striking distance late in the first half. McCadney finished the drive rushing for one yard into SU's end zone for the score. Delta State held the 21-10 advantage going into the locker room, following a Kenny Langford 34-yard field goal.
  • SU's Carr picked up his second rushing touchdown of the day to open the second half. Allowing Shorter cut into Delta State's lead, 21-17, with 12:55 to go in the third quarter.
  • A recovered fumble at Shorter's 14-yard line showed great promise for the Statesmen to go up by another touchdown. However, DSU had to settle for a 22-yard field goal from Vince Sciorrotta, pushing the score to 24-17 in favor of the Green-and-White.
  • With the clock winding down, Cameron's 64-yard pass to York flipped the field position for Delta State. McCadney capped off a 5-play, 92-yard drive with a six-yard rushing touchdown to give the senior season-high two touchdowns on the day.
  • On Shorter's next possession, Keijne Thomas ran a fumble recovery back for a touchdown to extend DSU's lead to 38-17 with 2:16 remaining in the contest.

Defense:
  • The defense came up with a huge stop late in the first half when the Hawks were threatening with the ball on DSU's one-yard line when Jamel Dennis recovered a fumble. The turnover resulted in a touchdown.
  • Delta State gave up 396 yards rushing to a team that averaged 199.8 per game but held the passing game to a mere 61 yards.
 
Special Teams:
  • Sciorrotta made one field goal in as many attempts, a 22-yarder, and went 5-for-5 in PATs. He has made 18 of his last 20 field goal attempts, dating back to last season.
  • Cody Mills recorded a career-high seven punts for 306 yards, averaging 43.7 yards per punt.
 
Key Stat
  • Delta State scored all 38 points off of five turnovers, including a blocked punt. The Statesmen recovered five of Shorter's eight fumbles.
 
Game Changer
  • The Green-and-White scored 21 points in the second quarter after trailing 7-0 to start the game.
 
Notables
  • DSU rushed for 129 yards, its third best output of the season.
  • D'Quan Bates' blocked punt and score gave the Statesmen their first special teams touchdown of the season. 
  • In Cameron's debut, the freshman completed 13 passes in 19 attempts for a total of 196 yards in the air and a long of 64.
  • The Statesmen now move to 4-0 all time under head coach Todd Cooley following a loss. The head ball coach has never lost two games in a row in his tenure at Delta State.
  • After tying the game 7-7 at the 14:08 mark in the second quarter, DSU never relinquished the lead.
  • The two squads combined for 782 yards of total offense, 525 rushing and 257 passing.
  • Shorter held the advantage in rushing (396-129) and total offense (457-325) with Delta State's only edge coming in the passing  game (196-61).
  • In the combined 55 points scored, neither team converted for a passing touchdown.

Up Next
Delta State will return home on Saturday, Oct. 17 to face GSC opponent West Georgia, with kickoff set for 6:05 p.m.
 
 
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