ITTA BENA, Miss. -- For the third time this season, Mississippi Valley State wide receiver Julian Stafford racked up at least 100 receiving yards on Saturday. But, unfortunately, it wasn't enough to propel the Delta Devils past Alabama A&M as MVSU fell 42-20 at Rice-Totten Stadium. 

Watch MVSU head coach Rick Comegy's post game press conference here. 

MVSU (1-4, 0-3 SWAC) fans witnessed another big day from Stafford as he put four catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns, including a 68-yard catch-and-run touchdown to cut A&M's lead to 35-20 with less than 11 minutes left. It marked the second time this season that the Memphis native has accumulated at least 150 receiving yards in a game. 

Despite Stafford's success, which all came in the second half, the Delta Devils were unable to get their first conference win under their belt. 

"We have to get over that hump," said MVSU head coach Rick Comegy. "I know I'm not quitting. I know (the MVSU players) aren't going to quit. The coaches aren't going to quit. We're going to stay after it and watch film and try to get better, better, and better as we make this run down the road against the teams we have left."

Unlike previous games, Valley struck first. Quantavius Peterson, who started at quarterback for the first time of his career for the Delta Devils, scored a 37-yard run on the first drive of the game. MVSU, however, was unable to convert the extra point, but held a 6-0 lead. 

Six minutes later, A&M's Harvey Harris scored on a 37-yard run of his own to give the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead with 6:48 left in the first quarter. Then, A&M added two more touchdowns in the first quarter -- the first one on a interception in the endzone by Germain calmes and a 4-yard run by Brand Eldemire. 

MVSU found itself down 21-6 at halftime. 

The Bulldogs didn't waste anytime landing another punch. Octayvius Miles returning the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown to put A&M up 28-6. 

"We really have to look at our special teams," said Comegy. "....We're going to have to start playing our starters and stop playing our backups on special teams because our backups aren't ready."

Despite the momentum gain by the Bulldogs, the Delta Devils didn't give up. After holding Stafford without a catch in the first half, he brought Valley back to life with a 66-yard touchdown catch on a screen pass to cut the lead to 28-13. 

But, yet again, A&M answered the call with a 1-yard touchdown run by Harvey Harris to cap off a six-play, 21-yard drive. 

Just 30 seconds later, however, Stafford and Peterson hooked up again -- this time for 68 yards for a score to cut the lead to 35-20. 

Like they did throughout the game, the Bulldogs kept the Delta Devils at bay. Jaymason Lee connected with Kali Robertson with less than seven minutes to play on a 55-yard touchdown pass to put the game away. 

"It could've been anybody's game in the fourth quarter," said Comegy. ".....We just have to find a way to stop going backwards offensively. We move foward and all of sudden we back ourselves out."

MVSU's Peterson finished with 261 passing yards on 12-of-26 attempts for two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Stafford accounted for four catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns and Trey Ford chipped in three receptions for 47 yards. 

Valley's Sean Fugate had nine tackles (seven solo), a sack, forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. 

MVSU will be back in action next Saturday, Oct. 4, at Texas Southern at 7 p.m.