Football | 7/19/2022 10:00:00 AM

ITTA BENA, Miss. – Finally on this year's countdown of Mississippi Valley State's ten most memorable wins of the 2021-22 athletic calendar is the top win on the list as football stunned North Carolina Central with a Jalani Eason two-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Johnson and subsequent extra point by Orlando Fernandez as the clock hit triple zeroes for an improbable 17-16 Homecoming triumph.
 
Things looked bleak for the Green and White heading into the final drive as the Eagles went in front with 25 seconds remaining as they kicked off to MVSU and despite a 25-yard kickoff return by Donald Johnson III with a 15-yard facemask penalty tacked on, the Delta Devil offense still needed to go 46 yards in just under 20 seconds. An incomplete pass did little to inspire confidence, but Eason found Jacory Rankin for a momentous 44-yard catch-and-run down to the two with a timeout being called just in time with one tick left. On the final play, Eason rolled to his right and fired a dart to Johnson, his first career receiving score, to tie the game at 16. NC Central tried to ice Fernandez twice with back-to-back timeouts, but the Cisco College transfer calmly split the uprights to set off a homecoming celebration.
 
The defense balled out on this balmy October Saturday, registering a season-best four sacks (Jalen Bell, Markell Gladney, Deione Reed, Ronnie Thomas), allowed the second-fewest points (16), and totaled seven tackles for loss plus two pass breakups on the afternoon.
 
Both offenses struggled to get much of anything going for the majority of the day as MVSU narrowly edged NCCU in both rushing (124-93) and total yards (299-291) while North Carolina Central won the passing yards (198-175) and first downs (15-14).
 
In most games, Volme Swanier would have had the defining moment, picking off Ryan McDaniel's pass at the end of the first half and rumbling 41 yards to paydirt to send the Devils into the halftime locker room tied at ten apiece. It turned out to be his only turnover created over 25 career contests in Itta Bena.
 
Deione Reed was the leading tackler for Derek Welch's defense, notching eight takedowns, a tackle for loss, and his lone sack of 2021.
 
Following right behind Reed was Frederick McGee and Jalen Bell who both set new career-bests with seven tackles each to go along with Ronnie Thomas recording his first career multi-TFL showing (2.0).
 
Signal caller Jalani Eason had a fine outing, completing a career-high 20 passes on 27 attempts (74.1%), 175 passing yards, and another 36 on the ground while compiling a quarterback rating of 140.74.
 
Valley State's two top offensive leaders, Caleb Johnson and Jacory Rankin, were both held relatively in check with 71 rushing and 80 receiving yards, respectively, leading the club in each category with Johnson providing the tying score.
 
Special teams turned out to play a vital role in the outcome, fueled by Donald Johnson III's season-best 84 kickoff return yards and Orlando Fernandez's personal-high four punts downed inside the Eagles' redzone.
 
With the conclusion of the top-ten wins countdown, the athletics department will begin a new list of the top-15 individual moments of 2021-22, starting on July 25.  
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