CLEVELAND, Miss. – A pair of late fourth down defensive stops highlighted a 14-7 victory for the Delta State Statesmen football team over West Alabama on Saturday at home in the Gulf South Conference-TV Game of the Week. The Statesmen (4-3, 3-2 GSC) had a total of three goal line stops in the win, two coming in the final three minutes of the game to preserve the one-score victory over the Tigers (4-3, 1-3 GSC).

The win was featured as the GSC-TV Game of the Week, airing live to a national audience on ESPN+. DSU is 2-0 this season on GSC-TV. The Statesmen are now 26-15 all-time in TV games.

With the victory, the Statesmen move to 34-5 in the Todd Cooley era when leading after three quarters.

  
THE BASICS
Score: Delta State 14, West Alabama 7
Records:  Statesmen (4-3, 3-2 GSC), Tigers (4-3, 1-3 GSC)
Date: Saturday, October 19, 2019 | 6:04 p.m. Kickoff | TOG: 3:04
Location: Parker Field-McCool Stadium (Cleveland, MS) | Attendance: 3,166
Series: Statesmen lead 36-27-3
Get Social: Twitter - @DeltaStateFB | Facebook – DSUStatesmen | Instagram – DSUAthletics


HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The first play of the first half to start inside the opponent's 30-yard line came with three minutes remaining in the second quarter, a 44-yard pass from UWA quarterback Jack McDaniels to Christian Saulsberry to the DSU two-yard line.
• After the UWA big play to set up first and goal, the DSU defense held the Tigers scoreless with a pair of tackles for loss, including a fourth down stop by Khalil Jones.
• With no score at the halftime break, DSU had 172 total yards on 40 plays. UWA had 140 yards on 34 plays.
• The Tigers threatened early in the third quarter with a 78-yard kickoff return to start the half, but a missed field goal attempt from 33 yards kept to score knotted at zero.
• The Statesmen reached the scoreboard first with 7:33 remaining in the third on a three-yard touchdown pass from Breck Ruddick to Cam Shelton. It was Shelton's first career touchdown catch.
• The Tigers responded on their next drive to tie the game with a four-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Murphree to Jonnas Spivey to cap a seven-play, 50-yard drive.
• The Statesmen regained the lead with 55 seconds remaining in the third on an 11-yard touchdown rush by Rico Owens II to cap an eight-play, 65-yard drive. It was Owens' fifth rushing score of the season.
• Similarly to the stop at the end of the first half, the Statesmen defense came up with another goal line stop with 2:05 remaining in the game. The Tigers had first and goal from the Statesmen three-yard line, but DSU's Vada King came up with a tackle on fourth down for a loss of two yards for the turnover on downs.
• After the Tigers forced the Statesmen to punt, UWA got the ball back with 1:03 remaining in the game and drove down to the DSU eight-yard line, but once again, the Statesmen defense came up with its third fourth down stand of the game to seal the victory. This time, DSU defenders Jakobe Richards and Dante Williams came up with pass deflections on fourth down to keep the Tigers off the board.

 
OFFENSIVE NOTEABLES:

• Quarterback Breck Ruddick finished the game 24-for-32 through the air for 129 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
• His favorite target was LJ Hawkins who hauled in five receptions for 30 yards.
• Running back Rico Owens II finished the game with 14 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown. It was his first 100-yard game of the season.
• The Statesmen outgained the Tigers 329 to 266, including a 200-67 margin in rushing yards.

 
DEFENSIVE NOTEABLES:

• Vada King tied a career-high, leading the Statesmen in total tackles with 13, including 10 unassisted stops. It was the third time this season for King to have 13 tackles in a game. Dante Williams added eight tackles in the win.
• Two sacks on the first UWA drive forced the Tigers to punt after getting the ball on the DSU 46-yard line. The first sack was by Zane Samuel for a loss of eight yards. The second sack was by Kahlil Johnson for a loss of nine. Samuel now has 5.5 sacks this season. Johnson now has 2.5. Stanley Talley recorded a sack later in the game, his first of the season.
• The Statesmen came up with the game's first turnover of the game, an interception by Tim Hall with 10:08 remaining in the third quarter. That turnover set up the first touchdown of the game.
• The Tigers also came up with an interception in the game. UWA's Josh Hatcher picked off a Breck Ruddick pass with 11:05 remaining with the Statesmen nearing the red zone.
• Out of DSU's four wins this season, Saturday's win over UWA marked the third time the Statesmen have held their opponent to only touchdown.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEABLES:

• DSU kicker Taylor Crabtree was 2-for-2 on extra points in the win. For the first time this season, Crabtree was not called on for a field goal attempt. His streak of 10 consecutive made field goals remains intact.
• Statesmen punter Sam Barge had six punts for 210 yards, an average of 35 yards per punt, and one punt downed inside the UWA 20-yard line.

OTHER NOTEABLES:

• The Statesmen hosted its first ever #DSUFamily Reunion this weekend with football players from every era represented at the game for a special recognition at the end of the third quarter.

 
UP NEXT:

• The Statesmen are off next week and will return to action on November 2 at Shorter for a noon kickoff in Rome, Georgia.