GAME NOTES: Delta State at North Greenville
Complete weekly release with notes, rankings & stats in PDF format

CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Statesmen (6-3, 4-3 GSC) of Delta State University will travel to Tigerville, S.C, to take on the Crusaders (4-4) of North Greenville University in the final non-conference game of the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 4 at Younts Stadium. DSU is 2-0 this season outside Gulf South Conference play. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. CST and the contest will be broadcast on the Statesmen Sports Network beginning at 1:30 p.m. EST/12:30 p.m. CST with the DSU Alumni Association Gameday Report. Matt Jones, Philip Tang and Lane Quinton have the call on WMJW 107.5 FM and online at GoStatesmen.com.

Delta State and North Greenville are meeting for the second time in series history and the first in regular season play. The Statesmen and Crusaders met on Dec. 3, 2011 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA DII Playoffs, with DSU claiming a 28-23 victory at Parker Field-McCool Stadium. Richard Freelon rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns, while DSU's defense held NGU's offense to a mere 326 yards. After the loss to DSU, NGU head coach Jamey Chadwell took over for Ron Roberts, who left to take the head coaching position at Southeastern Louisiana. Chadwell led the Statesmen to a 3-7 record in 2012, his lone season at Delta State.     

Despite the disappointment of the last two weeks, the Statesmen remain in the hunt for NCAA Division II postseason play with two games remaining in the regular season. While DSU, which sits seventh in the NCAA Super Region II Poll, travels to NGU this week, Florida Tech (5-4, 3-3 GSC) will visit Parker Field-McCool Stadium next Saturday, Nov. 11 for Homecoming. Victories in both games would give the Statesmen an 8-3 overall record with non-conference victories over Tarleton State, Chowan and North Greenville. 
 

---

FACE THE FOE: NORTH GREENVILLE CRUSADERS
INSIDE THE SERIES: Delta State and North Greenville are meeting for the second time in series history and the first in regular season on Saturday, Nov. 4 at Younts Stadium in Tigerville, S.C. The Statesmen and Crusaders met on Dec. 3, 2011 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA DII Playoffs, with DSU claiming a 28-23 victory at Parker Field-McCool Stadium. Richard Freelon rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns, while DSU's defense held NGU's offense to a mere 326 yards.

CRUSADERS SNAP SKID: Entering Saturday's game versus DSU, North Greenville is 4-4 overall after claiming a 31-21 victory over Carson Newman on Oct. 21. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for NGU. Will Hunter completed 19-of-28 passes for 214 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win. Robbie Brown hauled in eight passes for 84 yards and a score.

HUNTER & HEARD SPEARHEAD NGU OFFENSE: Quarterback Will Hunter (6-1, 200, Jr.) and running back Ashton Heard (5-9, 180, Sr.) spearhead Jeff Farrington's offense this season. Hunter has completed 121-of-218 passes for 1,505 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He is averaging 188.1 yards passing per game. Heard leads the Crusaders with 645 rushing yards on 131 carries. The speedster has scored six touchdowns and is averaging 80.6 yards per game entering the week.

BURGER LEADING CRUSADERS DEFENSE: NGU linebacker Brandon Burger (6-1, 220, Soph.) enters Saturday's game with Delta State leading the Crusaders with 65 tackles and 3.0 tackles-for-loss. In the win at Carson Newman, Burger totaled 10 tackles.

FARRINGTON IN 5TH SEASON AT NGU: Jeff Farrington is in his fifth season as head coach at North Greenville, posting a 32-23 overall record. In 2014, The Citadel graduate led the Crusaders to a 7-5 record and a win in the Victory Bowl. In 2016, he guided NGU to a 9-5 mark and back into the NCAA DII playoffs for the first time since Jamey Chadwell brought the Crusaders to Cleveland in 2011.
 

---

QUICK-HITTERS: STATESMAN NEWS & NOTES

GRAHAM LEADING SECONDARY: Senior corner Jamoral Graham has developed into one of the GSC's toughest defensive backs, ranking second in the league with 13 passes defended and tied for third with three interceptions. The Mississippi State transfer enters week 10 with 32 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, three interceptions and 13 passes defended.  

STATESMEN SEVENTH IN NCAA SUPER REGION II POLL: Delta State remained in the NCAA Super Region II Poll, slipping two spots to No. 7 in latest rankings. Undefeated Wingate remained No. 1 followed by West Alabama, and Virginia State in the top three. West Georgia climbed to No. 4 followed by Bowie State, Catawba, Delta State, Miles, Virginia Union and Carson Newman in the top 10.

SCIORROTTA TOPS GSC RECORD BOOK FOR KICKERS: With his seven points versus Valdosta State, Delta State senior Vince Sciorrotta became the career scoring leader in the Gulf South Conference by a kicker. His 313 career points scored broke the record held previously by former Valdosta State kicker Will Rhody (2002-2004), who accumulated 309 points (51 FG/158 PAT). Sciorrotta has connected on 43 career field goals and a GSC record 185 PATs. He ranks fourth all-time in the GSC record book in scoring overall, trailing only Demarcus Blount (UNA, 382), Kentrel Rogers (UCA, 322) and Aaron Jenkins (VSU, 318). The Gainesville, Ga., native, could easily finish his career ranked as high as second in career points.

     STUDENT-ATHLETE - YEARS - POINTS    
     1. DeMarcus Blount, UNA - 2002-2005 - 382 (63 TD/Two 2-point PAT)    
     2. Kentrel Rogers, UCA - 2002-2005 - 322 (53 TD/Two 2-point PAT)    
     3. Aaron Jenkins, VSU - 2000-2003 - 318 (53 TD)    
     4. Vince Sciorrotta, DSU - 2013-2017 - 314 (43 FG/185 PAT)    
     5. Will Rhody, VSU - 2002-2004 - 309 (51 FG/158 PAT)         

CLEDANORD LEADING STATESMEN DEFENSE: Heading into week 10 of the season, junior linebacker Ovenson Cledanord is tied for the GSC lead in tackles (73) while leading the league in sacks with 7.5 for minus 50 yards. The Greenacres, Fla., native, is also second in the GSC with 13.0 tackles-for-loss.

TULLO ECLIPSES 200 CAREER TACKLES: Senior linebacker Landry Tullo's distinguished career at Delta State has been hampered at times by injuries, but despite the setbacks, the Hoover, Ala., has remained a highly productive member of the Statesman defense eclipsing the 200 career tackle mark this season with 221. A two-time All-Gulf South Conference selection, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound middle linebacker ranks second in the GSC this year in tackles with 70, while his 8.0 tackles-for-loss are tied for sixth.
 

ROBINSON & RUDDICK PACING GROUND GAME: Senior Chris Robinson enters week 10 leading the Statesmen rushing attack with 685 yards (76.1 YPG) and nine touchdowns. The Bude, Miss., native, ranks third in the GSC in rushing yards per game while sitting third in scoring (6.9 PPG). Junior quarterback Breck Ruddick has proven to be one of the elusive runners in the league this year, rushing for 497 yards (55.2 YPG) to rank fifth in the GSC. The duo form a one-two punch that powers DSU's league-leading 200.3 yards rushing per game.

10TH AND CLIMBING: Senior running back Chris Robinson currently ranks 10th on the career rushing charts at Delta State with 1,661 yards. In just 19 games, the Bude, Miss., native, is averaging 87.4 yards per game rushing and needs only 36 yards to move past Willie Dickson's 1,696 yards into ninth place overall.

NINE STRAIGHT UNDER 450 YARDS & 35 POINTS: Delta State's defense enters week 10 on a nine game streak of holding opponents under 450 yards of total offense and 35 points. In fact, West Florida (443) and North Alabama (417) are the only teams this year to top 400 yards of total offense against the Statesmen, while Valdosta State (34) is the lone opponent to eclipse 30 points in a game.    

PETERSON BREAKS CAREER KICK RETURN RECORD: Senior running back and return specialist LaDarion Peterson broke the Delta State career kick return yards record, returning five kickoffs for 80 yards against West Alabama, giving him 1,211 career kick return yards. The Woodville, Miss., native, who was named First Team All-GSC last year as a returner, is the fourth member of the 1,000-Kick Return Yards Club. Peterson broke Jesse Jackson's (1974-77) school record of 1,197 yards. After last week's 90 yards of returns at West Florida, Peterson has amassed 1,513 kick return yards.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE: Delta State is 23-2 under head coach Todd Cooley when winning the turnover battle, including a 5-0 mark this season.     
 
LEADING AT THE HALF: Delta State is 26-0 under head coach Todd Cooley when leading at half-time. The Statesmen are 4-16 when trailing and 0-2 when tied at the half.

RACE TO 30: The Statesmen are 28-5 all-time when scoring 30 or more points against an opponent under head coach Todd Cooley.