CLEVELAND, Mississippi – The Delta State University football team scored on offense, defense, and special teams to record its first win of the season, a 46-20 victory over Shorter University at home on Thursday, Oct. 25 in the Gulf South Conference TV Game of the Week. In addition to four offensive touchdowns, the Statesmen also put points on the board with a field goal, a punt return for a touchdown, an interception return for a touchdown, and a safety.

Freshman quarterback Patrick Shegog tallied career-highs in passing yards (319) and passing touchdowns (three), while Tony Daggett caught a career-high nine passes for 102 yards. Defensively, Darren Gardenhire finished the night with four tackles, three pass break-ups, a 73-yard interception return for touchdown, and a 35-yard punt return for a score.
  
THE BASICS
Score: Delta State 46, Shorter 13
Records:  Statesmen (1-7, 1-5 GSC), Hawks (0-9, 0-7 GSC)
Date: Thursday, October 25, 2018 | 6:04 p.m. Kickoff | TOG: 3:11
Location: Parker Field-McCool Stadium (Cleveland, MS)
Attendance: 3,333
Series: Statesmen lead 6-1
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Statesmen started the game on defense, but managed to find the scoreboard less than two minutes into the contest. Following an interception by Ovenson Cledanford on the second play of the game, the Statesmen took advantage of a short field on scored on a one-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Shegog to Josh McInnis with 13:05 remaining in the opening quarter.
• Shorter answered with three big plays to reach the scoreboard on the next drive, including a 44-yard kickoff return, a 33-yard rush, and a 16-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Pullum to Juan Sutton. The Hawks failed on a two-point conversion attempt to leave the Statesmen with a one-point lead with 11:41 remaining in the first.
• The Statesmen took a 14-6 lead with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter on a 35-yard punt return for a touchdown by Darren Gardenhire. It was DSU's longest punt return of the season.
• DSU went up 21-6 at the 11:37 mark of the second quarter with the longest play from scrimmage of the season, a 74-yard touchdown pass from Shegog to Leon Green.
• The Hawks responded with five-play, 74-yard scoring drive capped by a 44-yard touchdown pass from Pullum to Elijah Gilbert to cut DSU's lead to 21-13 with 9:16 remaining before half.
• A pair of big plays aided the Statesmen to their next score late in the second quarter. Shegog connected with Tyler Harrell for 30 yards, followed a couple plays later by a 40-yard pass from Shegog to Tony Daggett. The Statesmen capped the drive with a five-yard rush into the end zone from Kelon Wilson to put his team up 28-13 with 2:57 remaining before halftime.
• The Statesmen opened the second-half scoring with a 29-yard field goal by Taylor Crabtree to put his team up 31-13 with 12:30 remaining in the third quarter.
• DSU went up by 20 points on a bad snap on a Shorter punt that resulted in a safety with 6:41 remaining in the third quarter. That gave the Statesmen a 33-13 lead.
• The Statesmen went up 40-13 with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Shegog to Tyler Harrell.
• DSU completed the trifecta in scoring on offense, defense, and special teams with a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown by Darren Gardenhire with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter. That gave the Statesmen a 46-13 lead.
• Shorter finalized the scoring with the only score of the fourth quarter, a 13-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Winton to Keith Teague with 1:25 remaining in the game.

 
OFFENSIVE NOTEABLES:

• Josh McInnis' touchdown catch early in the first quarter was his first receiving touchdown of his DSU career.
• Kelon Wilson's rushing touchdown late in the second quarter was his team-high sixth rushing score of the year.
• The Statesmen matched their season-high in points in the first half with 28. Crabtree's field goal early in the third quarter gave DSU a new season-high in points.
• DSU quarterback Patrick Shegog had a career-high 319 passing yards. He finished the night 22-for-29 through the air with three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
• Tony Daggett led the receiving corps with nine catches for a career-high 102 yards

 
DEFENSIVE NOTEABLES:

• Ovenson Cledanford's interception early in the first quarter was his first pick of the season, and second of his DSU career. He added another interception late in the third quarter. It was the first multiple interception game for a Statesman since 2016.
• Darren Gardenhire's 73-yard interception return late in the third quarter was his second interception return for a score this season.
• Dante Smith paced the DSU defense with seven tackles, including one for a loss.
• The Statesmen defense totaled three interceptions in the win. The last time DSU had three interceptions was also against Shorter in a 47-7 win in 2016.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEABLES:

• Statesmen punter Cody Mills, with the benefit of a lucky bounce, had a punt downed at the Shorter 2-yard line late in the first quarter. It was his 19th punt this season to be downed inside the opponent 20-yard line.
• Darren Gardenhire's 35-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the first quarter was the first DSU punt return for a score since 2014 when Jordan Howard had a 46-yard return for a score against Central State.
• DSU's Brandon Rogers returned the second-half kickoff 73 yards to mark the longest kick return of the year.
• Statesmen kicker Taylor Crabtree connected on his sixth field goal of the season early in the third quarter. Crabtree is now 6-for-11 on field goals this season and 3-for-4 on field goals in between 20 and 29 yards.

 
OTHER NOTEABLES:

• The Statesmen are 23-13 all-time in televised contests, including an 12-6 mark during the Todd Cooley era.

UP NEXT:

• The Statesmen are back in action on Saturday, November 3 on the road against No. 3 West Georgia. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Carrollton, Georgia.