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Football

Delta Devils upend TSU to capture first home victory

Box Score ITTA BENA -- Mississippi Valley State earned its first home win of the season Saturday when the Delta Devils held off a second half rally by Texas Southern to secure a 20-17 victory at Rice-Totten Stadium.

MVSU's Sean Fugate sacked TSU quarterback Jamal Small on fourth down with 23 seconds remaining to seal the victory and stop a 4-game losing streak.

"It's a good win, nothing beats winning," said MVSU coach Karl Morgan. "Our guys fought and they did a good job today. We struggled through the second half, but we hung on to get the win."

The Delta Devils (2-8, 2-6 SWAC) didn't waste any time putting points on the board. Julian Stafford, who took a return for a TD last year at TSU, returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a score and gave Valley the lead and some early momentum. And Stafford struck again late in the second quarter -- this time on a 62-yard strike from Patrick Ivy that gave MVSU a commanding 17-3 lead with more than 7 minutes left in the first half.

TSU, however, didn't lay down without a fight. With under a minute left in the second quarter, TSU quarterback Homer Causey drove the Tigers down the field 88 yards and capped off the drive with a 14-yard pass to Larry Clark that cut the lead to 17-10.

But the Delta Devils were able to put three more points on the board in 43 seconds thanks to a 40-yard pass from Ivy to Jerrell Moore that set up a 35-yard field goal by Cherchen Galon. MVSU went into halftime with a 20-10 lead.

The Valley offense sputtered during the second half, but the MVSU defense came through at all the right times to limit the Tigers. TSU's lone scoring drive in the second half came on a 70-yard drive, capped off by a 8-yard scamper by Jamal Small.

The Tigers had a chance to either tie the game or take the lead with 1:47 left in the game, but the MVSU defense stood strong. On TSU's final drive of the game, MVSU's defense caused two incomplete passes, a rush for no gain and the game-sealing sack by Fugate.

"The defense came up big," said Morgan. "We made some plays. We finally covered some guys and put pressure on them."

Ivy completed 14-of-27 passes for 252 yards and a TD. Stafford led Valley with three catches for 90 yards and a score whie Richard Drake and Moore chipped in four receptions each.

MVSU's Robert Simpson had 10 tackles (2.5 for loss) and two sacks while Antonio Benson chipped in seven tackles (2.0 for loss), a sack and a forced fumble. Jameel Franklin accounted for three tackles, two sacks and an interception.

The Delta Devil defense had eight sacks on the day.

MVSU will close out the season at home next Saturdya when they host Alabama State at 1 p.m.
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