PENSACOLA, FLA. – The Delta State University football team (4-2, 1-1 GSC) fell on the road 40-28 to the Argonauts of the University of West Florida (3-2, 2-1 GSC) Saturday (Oct. 12) afternoon in a tug of war battle.
On the offensive end, junior quarterback
Cole Kirk completed 12 of 22 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back
Kelvin Smith had 12 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Ahmir Taylor led the Statesmen defense with eight total tackles and .5 TFLs.
The Statesmen and Argonauts exchanged the lead twice as the Statesmen would hold a 14-13 lead in the second quarter and a 28-27 lead in the third quarter.
The Argonauts took an early two touchdown lead with 3:30 to go in the opening frame. After the Argonauts missed an extra point, the Statesmen would answer on back-to-back drives starting with a 66-yard
Kelvin Smith touchdown run on the fourth play of second drive of the game to cut it to 13-7.
After a three and out,
Taylon Doss would have a 21-yard punt return setting up the Statesmen in great field position. The Statesmen offense would take advantage as
Cole Kirk would force a UWF defensive linemen to jump offside, while taking a shot down field finding
Jaylen Green for a 24-yard touchdown to give the Statesmen a 14-13 lead.
After both teams exchange punts, the Argonauts would regain the lead before the half with an 11-play 80-yard drive and a score with 1:15 left in the half. The Argonauts would follow up before the half with a big play scoring a 58-yard touchdown pass to take a 27-14 lead into the half.
The Statesmen would force a key turnover as
Tye Holsey would force a fumble on a sack leading to a
Tamaj Hoffman one-yard touchdown to cut the UWF lead to 27-21. After a three and out, the Statesmen would make a 10-play, 60-yard drive resulting in a
Cole Kirk 1-yard touchdown.
The Argonauts would respond on the first play in the ensuing drive on a 70-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead. UWF would follow up with another to ice the game at a 40-28 final score.
The Statesmen come back home next weekend to host the nationally ranked Tigers of the University of West Alabama next Saturday (Oct. 19) at Parker Field at McCool Stadium. Kickoff will be at 4:00 p.m. (CDT).
