ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University football program led the Tigers for all but the final 78 seconds, outgaining Texas Southern by 133 yards (440-307), committing four fewer penalties (9-5), and owning a more than 13% edge on third down conversions (46%-33%), however, the visitors from H-Town rattled off the final 16 unanswered points while the Delta Devils last ditch Haily Mary attempt fell five yards shy of paydirt in a 23-20 defeat during the team's 2025 SWAC season opener.
 
The Basics: 
 

• Score
  • Texas Southern – 23
  • Mississippi Valley – 20

 

• Records
  • Mississippi Valley (0-4, 0-1 SWAC)
  • Texas Southern (1-3, 1-1 SWAC)

 

• Location
  • Itta Bena, Mississippi – Rice-Totten Stadium at Chuck Prophet Field

 

• Series History
  • Tigers Lead 30-25-1 (45.5%)

 

• Winning Streak
  • Tigers (W1) | Delta Devils' Last Win: October 26, 2019 (35-14)

 
Delta Devils' Top Performers: 
 

• Signal-caller Josh Brown was electric tonight in front of the Valley faithful leading the squad through the air (252) and on the ground (91, 4.8 YPC) while completing 20-of-31 (64.5%) passes with a 30-yard touchdown strike to Kerrick Ross.

 

• Speaking of Ross, the Itta Bena native hauled registered season-highs of three catches and 61 yards (20.3 YPC) in addition to a career-most 18 rushing yards, giving him 79 all-purpose yards.

 

• Both Khalil Hunter and Tacolby Grant led the defense with a personal-best seven tackles apiece whereas Anthony Brown set a new career benchmark for tackles (6) on top of his first pass breakup and second fumble recovery as a MVSU student-athlete.

 

• Elsewhere on Defensive Coordinators Mario Edwards and Kevin Smith's unit, three different players went for 2025-highs regarding their tackle totals as Joey Davis, Franklin Douglas, and Jalen Wright all wrapped up five ballcarriers each with Douglas putting together his first multi-TFL outing (2) and Wright collected his second such showing (2) in addition to sack number one of his Valley tenure.

 

• Wideout Evens Valcourt Jr. was the first touchdown scorer of the afternoon for the Green and Red, finding his way into the end zone courtesy of a carry as he plowed forward for the two-yard score, leading the aerial assault as well by racking up 62 receiving yards on a team-high five receptions.

 

• Natwan Webster rumbled for a combined 41 yards from scrimmage out of the backfield and Isaiah Pedack brought down the running back by himself behind the offensive line for his first full-TFL.

 

• In the kicking game, Marko Jovisic continues to provide a powerful leg and potential to score from most distances across the midfield stripe, blasting 41 and 39-yard field goals between the goalposts as part of a 2-for-3 day that saw him make both PAT tries plus averaging exactly 60 yards per kickoff.

 
Next:

• College Football Hall of Famer Terrell Buckley and his staff have a chance to pick up his first career victory as a collegiate coach in the home city of the CFB HOF, Atlanta, in the inaugural Georgia Football Classic on Saturday against Florida A&M.

Follow the Delta Devils / Devilettes on Facebook (Valley State Athletics), Twitter / X (@MVSUDevilSports), and Instagram (@ValleyStateAthletics).
 
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