Itta Bena, Miss. – Mississippi Valley State University returned to Rice-Totten Stadium to deliver a much-needed homecoming victory to the Delta Devil faithful.  With one second remaining, the Delta Devils broke the hearts of the North Carolina Central University Eagles on a 2-yard reception from Jalani Eason to Caleb Johnson.

 NCCU (2-3) jumped out early to a 10 – 0 during the first quarter on a 20-yard field goal by Adrian Olivo and a 26-yard touchdown reception by Ryan McDaniel.  MVSU (1 -3) answered in the second quarter with a 25-yard field goal by Orlando Fernandez and an electrifying 41-yard interception by Volme Swanier to tie the game at 10 for the intermission.

The second half was a defensive struggle until the last minute of the fourth quarter.  With only 37 seconds remaining in the game, NCCU surged a head with a touchdown after a nine play, 82-yard drive capped by Davius Richard quarterback sneak.  NCCU would miss the extra point to give hope to the Valley.

A facemask penalty after a 25-yard kick-off return by Donald Johnson put the Delta Devils on the NCCU 46-yard line with 19 seconds to play.  After an incompletion that left only 9 seconds on the clock, Eason connected with Jacory Rankins for a 44-yard scamper to the NCCU 2-yard line.  With one second remaining, Eason fooled the defense with a fade route to Caleb Johnson in the end zone to tie the game at 16 all.  After two NCCU timeouts, Orlando Fernandez kicked the extra point to seal the victory with no time left on the clock.

Jalani Eason went the distance under center completing 20 passes on 27 attempts for 175-yards.  Caleb Johnson led the ground attack with 78-ydards on 20 rushes and the game winning touchdown reception.  Defense was led by Deione Reed (8 tackles) and Jalen Bell (7 tackles) with each recording a sack.

Up next, MVSU travels to Daytona Beach to take on the Bethune Cookman University on Oct 9 at 4:00 PM.