ITTA BENA, Miss. – Mississippi Valley State looked to control the tempo in their home opener against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats Saturday (Sept. 21). They did that, but the difference was made on the opponents' side of the 50. Valley was prevented from scoring, while Bethune broke for a couple big plays to win the contest, 22-6. 

THE STATS

Mississippi Valley State (0-3) controlled the pace of play with a time of possession of 36:39. Dejerric Bryant (Mize, Miss.) threw for 141 yards, completed more than half his passes and added another 23 yards on the ground. John'Derrick Smith (Greenwood, Miss.) had his best game for Valley, carrying the rock 22 times for 79 yards. Jarius Clayton (Kemper, Miss.) and Sedevyn Gray (Puckett, Miss.) pulled in five receptions each. 

On defense, Tracy Thompkins (Miami, Fla.) led the way once again in the tackle department with seven stops. Jonathan Jones (De Kalb, Miss.) finished with six tackles and hauled in a 35 yard interception in the third quarter. Jerry Garner (Chunchula, Ala.) registered two sacks on Wildcat quarterback Akevious Williams - the first time that's happened for Valley since Theron Chatmon earned a pair against Virginia Lynchburg in 2017. 

Bethune-Cookman (2-1) was efficient when they had the ball, averaging 6.7 yards per play. The bulk of that came on the ground with 149 yards from Isaac Washington and 98 yards from Williams. The Wildcat defense was led with 12 tackles from Marquis Hendrix, including two and a half for losses, and the team combined for six sacks. 

THE GAME FLOW

While Valley held the ball for longer periods, they were also inhibited by challenging field positions. That manifested early when Bethune-Cookman recorded a safety as Judas McKenrie and Hendrix tackled Valley's Bryant in the back of the end zone. The Delta Devil defense managed two stops and the offense worked up an eight play, 59 yard drive capped off by a touchdown to Clayton. It would be Valley's only score and only lead of the night. 

It took the Wildcats two drives to reverse the course back in their favor. A 57 yard scoring run from Washington with nine minutes left in the half pushed Bethune-Cookman back on top, 9-6. Another touchdown from Washington several minutes later set their halftime advantage at 15-6. 

Valley made an attempt to seize back the momentum midway in the third quarter. Jones' interception with 6:20 left set the offense up on the Wildcats side. But quickly facing third and long, an errant pass by Bryant found a defender instead, and Bethune-Cookman took the momentum for good. 

The final blow came with five minutes remaining as the Wildcat quarterback Williams found a 38 yard hole to the end zone. 

NEXT GAME 

SWAC play for Valley kicks off next Saturday (Sept. 28) with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Alcorn State.