ITTA BENA, MS. – After falling behind early, the Lincoln University football team gave Division I (FCS) Mississippi Valley State a scare, as the Delta Devils escaped with a 16-6 victory Saturday afternoon at Rice-Totten Stadium.
MVS (3-7) got the start they needed, forcing a Blue Tiger fumble on their opening drive. With the ball at their own 21, the Delta Devil offense went to work, moving down the field on seven plays, chewing up over three minutes on the clock and going 79 yards, capping the drive on a Paul Roberts to Hakim McClellan touchdown pass and after the extra point was blocked, the Delta Devils held the early 6-0 lead six minutes in.
The Lincoln (0-11) defense came through several times, as the Blue Tiger offense struggled to move the ball early on, the Lincoln defense denied the Delta Devils on consecutive fourth down plays, stopping the first one at their own 31 and the other at the 30 to keep the game at 6-0 into the second quarter.
Lincoln’s strongest drive of the first half came with a little over 10 minutes to play in the second frame, after the Delta Devils again turned the ball over on downs, this time at their own 42. The Blue Tigers chewed up the yards, getting down to the MVS 35 following a pair of Alex Campbell runs and another by quarterback Josh Goffigan. But a penalty and a loss on a rushing play stalled the drive, keeping the score 6-0 at halftime.
The Delta Devils moved the ball well on their opening drive of the second half, but again the Blue Tiger defense stood tall, stuffing MVS on a fourth-and-four at the Lincoln 32 to once again turn the ball over on downs.
The next drive, the Lincoln offense finally broke through, beginning at their own 32, a big pass from Goffigan to Jerrel l Anderson went for 35 yards and after a personal foul penalty on the Delta Devils, the Blue Tigers were in business at the MVS 20. After no gain on first down, Goffigan busted free for 11 yards on his next carry to set up a first-and-goal at the four, as the Delta Devils again had another personal foul tacked on at the end of the play. Goffigan kept it on the next play and ran in for the touchdown to tie the game at six. A failed two-point try kept the score tied midway through the third quarter.
The Delta Devils didn’t take long to respond, as they took their next drive deep into Blue Tiger territory, before being stopped at the 12. Rather than going for it again, MVS elected to go for the field goal, in which Carlos Sanchez hit from 29-yards out to put the Delta Devils back on top at 9-6 with a little over a minute left in the third frame.
The Blue Tiger offense struggled on the next few drives and the Delta Devils looked to put the game out of reach on a drive early in the fourth quarter. MVS moved the ball inside the Blue Tiger 10 and after a five-yard carry by Stephen Robert had the Delta Devils inside the five, the Blue Tiger defense delivered again. Antony Bowie was drilled back at the Blue Tiger 10 by Justin Hayes, who also forced a fumble, which the Blue Tiger defense recovered to deny the scoring drive.
But, the Delta Devils quickly turned momentum back on their side, intercepting Goffigan on a third-and-eight, picking the pass off at the Lincoln 21.
MVS took just five plays to get into the end zone, as Bowie hit Chris Williams in the end zone on a 10-yard strike on third-and-goal to expand the lead to 16-6 following the extra point with just under five minutes to play in the game.
Lincoln had one last drive left in them, as the Blue Tigers began at their own 35 and once again benefited from a long pass play, this time from the arm of Allen McCalin, who hit Anderson for 39 yards down to the Delta Devil 26. After McClain hit Anderson again for another six yard gain, the MVS defense denied the next three pass attempts to force Lincoln to turn the ball over on downs.
The Delta Devils outgained the Blue Tigers, 399-183, as Lincoln rushed for 96 yards, while passing for 87. Campbell led the ground attack for the Blue Tigers, tallying 48 yards on 12 carries, while Goffigan added 46 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. Of the 399 yards the Delta Devils tallied, 297 came through the air, as Bowie threw for 169 yards and a touchdown, while Roberts added 121 yards and a touchdown.
Box Score (Final)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Lincoln University.. 0 0 6 0 - 6 Record: (0-11)
Miss. Valley State.. 6 0 3 7 - 16 Record: (3-7,1-7)
Scoring Summary:
1st 09:35 MVSU - McCLELLAN,Hakim 7 yd pass from ROBERTS,Paul, 7-79 3:04, LU 0 - MVSU 6
3rd 06:58 LU - Goffigan, J. 4 yd run (Campbell, A. rush failed), 6-68 2:58, LU 6 - MVSU 6
01:22 MVSU - SANCHEZ,Carlos 29 yd field goal, 9-44 5:30, LU 6 - MVSU 9
4th 04:56 MVSU - WILLIAMS,Chris 10 yd pass from BOWIE,Anthony (SANCHEZ,Carlos kick), 5-21 1:46, LU 6 - MVSU 16