Heritage Bell
37
Winner Delta State DSU 6-5 , 2-5
29
Mississippi College MC 2-8 , 0-7
Winner
Delta State DSU
6-5 , 2-5
37
Final
29
Mississippi College MC
2-8 , 0-7
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
DSU Delta State 0 17 13 7 37
MC Mississippi College 13 10 3 3 29

Game Recap: Football | | Caroline George

Heritage Bell Stays in Cleveland with a 37-29 Take Down of Choctaws

CLINTON, Mississippi – Delta State University football picked up a 37-29 road win in Clinton Saturday night, securing the Heritage Bell staying in Cleveland.

The Basics
  • Score:  Statesmen 37, Choctaws 29
  • Records:  Delta State (6-5, 2-5 GSC), Mississippi College (2-8, 0-7 GSC)
  • Date: Saturday, Nov. 14 | 3 p.m. (CDT) Kickoff | Heritage Bell
  • Location: Robinson-Hale Stadium | Clinton, Miss.
  • Series: Statesmen lead 19-15-2.
 
How It Happened
 
Scoring:
  • Mississippi College struck first, only the third time all season the Statesmen have allowed their opponent to get on the board first. MC's Colt Freeman blocked a Cody Mills punt, the first occurrence of the season, and brought it back for a touchdown. Randall Boyd blocked his third PAT of the season, leaving the score 6-0 at the 8:33 mark.
  • The Choctaws scored again on a Sharone Wright 50-yard touchdown pass to Josh Dixon, giving MC a 13-0 lead with 3:43 left on the clock in the first quarter.
  • Delta State answered to open the second quarter on a three-yard touchdown pass to James Johnson, his third of the season and second in as many games. The Green-and-White cut the lead to 13-7 with 14:50 to go in the half.
  • The Statesmen earned their first lead of the contest, 14-13, at the 9:38 mark courtesy of Eddie McCadney's seventh touchdown of the season, a four-yard rush.. A couple plays before Sullivan's 53-yard pass to Collin Floyd put DSU in great field position at MC's 10-yard line.
  • MC's Tyler Poe nailed a 46-yard field goal to put the Choctaws back up 16-14 with 7:38 on the clock.
  • The Choctaws extended their lead to 23-14 on a Freeman 33-yard reception score at the 1:44 mark.
  • A minute later, DSU chipped away at the deficit when Vince Sciorrotta connected on a 21-yard field goal. The two teams went into the locker room with the score notched at 23-17 in favor of the Choctaws.
  • In their first possession of the second half, the Statesmen used six plays to march 67 yards that resulted in a 43-yard touchdown reception by Justin Leavy, his first since West Alabama. This allowed Delta State to regain the lead, 24-23, with 10:44 on the clock in the third quarter.
  • The fourth lead change of the contest came in the closing minutes of the third quarter. Scrambling to find a receiver, Sullivan found Darius Powell in the back of the end zone for the five-yard score, giving the Statesmen the 30-26 lead following a failed two-point.
  • Delta State extended its lead to 37-26 on a Justin McArthur 10-yard rushing score with 8:48 left to play.
  • A 25-yard field goal by MC's Poe put the score at 37-29, but the effort was too little too late as the Statesmen went on to win 37-29 to keep the Heritage Bell in Cleveland.

Defense:
  • Delta State's defense held the Choctaws to 76 yards rushing, 176 yards and 252 yards of total offense.
 
Special Teams:
  • Sciorrotta went 4-for-4 in PAT attempts and 1-for-3 in field goals.
  • Cody Mills punted three times for 104 yards, averaging 34.7 yards and a long of 38.
  • Boyd's blocked PAT in the first quarter was his third of the season.
  • Ladarrell Hunt's 91-yard kickoff return is a season-long for the Statesmen. Hunt held the previous season-long of 45 yards.
 
Key Stat
  • Delta State's offense combined for 552 yards of total offense.
 
Game Changer
  • DSU held Mississippi College to six points in the second half.
 
Notables
  • Junior quarterback Tyler Sullivan now moves into third in the Delta State record book for career passing. Sullivan passed for 374 yards against MC to total 7,250 in his career and passes Scott Butler (1981-84) and Garrett DeWitt (2006-09).
  • Vince Sciorrotta is now second in the record book in career scoring, passing Josh Bright (1998-2001) and Rico McDonald (1999-2000). He now has 255 points scored in his third season with the Green-and-White.
  • Mississippi College was only the third team to score first on Delta State this season. The other two opponents were Shorter and West Georgia.
  • Delta State held the advantage in every offensive category: rushing yards (178-76), passing yards (374-176) and total offense (552-252).
Print Friendly Version