It was another wild week across Mississippi’s Division II and Division III scenes. No brawls this time around, but the games were all worth watching. Catch up with the scores from week three below.
Big second half leads Delta State to win over D1 Valley
Delta State continued to show that it knows how to play in the second half, scoring 29 unanswered points in the final two quarters of play to take down Mississippi Valley State.
After trailing 7-6 at halftime, the Statesmen found the end zone on their first drive of the third quarter when Patrick Shegog hit Todd Lee Battle from 13 yards out. Rinse, repeat. Delta State scored touchdowns on their next two drives to make the score 22-7.
A Kharel Coney interception early in the fourth quarter gave Delta State another chance to extend their lead, in which they did. With the score at 29-7, the Statesmen put it in the end zone one more time for insurance purposes with a touchdown reception from Christian Malloy with 6:00 left to play.
Leading the way for the Statesmen (3-0, 1-0 GSC) was Shegog with 344 total yards and three touchdowns. Running back Kelvin Smith had 143 total yards, including a 52-yard scamper into the end zone. Defensively, Delta State amassed four sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Freshman quarterback Ty’Jarian Williams had 76 yards on 12 of 15 passing for Valley (0-2).
The Delta State win was the Gulf South Conference’s first over a Division I FCS opponent this season. The Statesmen now hold two of the GSC’s wins over D1 opponents since 2017, after defeating Valley 28-17 last season.
Mississippi College blows late lead against West Georgia
For the second week in a row, Mississippi College was not able to hang on to a fourth-quarter lead, falling this time around to West Georgia by a score of 38-35.
The Choctaws jumped out to an early lead with slotback RJ Wilson capping off the opening drive with a score from six yards out. West Georgia responded with two first-quarter touchdowns to make it a one-score game in the Wolves’ favor.
In the second quarter, the Mississippi College offense looked like it was working on all cylinders with two long drives ending in rushing touchdowns from quarterback John Henry White and running back Ron Craten. The defense gave up a 44-yard field goal with time expiring to make it a 21-17 game going into the locker room.
Both teams traded scores in the second half until the Wolves found a crucial three-and-out, getting the ball back with 6:25 to play and trailing 35-31. A botched secondary assignment by the Choctaw defense allowed Cole Terrill to walk in for the go-ahead score.
Mississippi College (1-2, 0-1 GSC) had one shot at a two-minute drill and just needed a field goal to send the game into overtime. After two big hits, White was escorted to the sideline. Backup quarterback Cameron Davis came in and led the offense all the way down to the 31-yard line, putting fate into the hands of kicker Ben Pledger.
Good snap, good hold, and Pledger nailed the field goal from 49 yards out. However, West Georgia (2-1, 1-0 GSC) called a timeout just in the nick of time to successfully ice the sophomore kicker. Pledger missed the second attempt as the Wolves went home with their first conference win of the season.
Millsaps rushed off the Mountain by Sewanee
Millsaps, who had been outscored 100-9 going into Saturday’s matchup at Sewanee, looked better offensively but was never able to find the right side of the scoreboard falling to the Tigers by a score of 27-21.
The Majors gave the start to freshman quarterback Gray Jennings. Jennings, the third quarterback to play this season for Millsaps, took some time to get acclimated before finding the end zone with a five-yard run at the end of the second quarter.
Coming out of the locker room with the game tied at 7-7, Sewanee took a page out of the Majors’ book and decided to lean heavily on their freshman quarterback, Jacorin Thomas. Thomas, who split third-quarter reps with starter Jeremiah Young, quickly proved to be the most explosive player on the field.
After an 18-yard touchdown pass from Young to start the second half, Thomas found the end zone for the first time in his career with a 54-yard run to make the score 21-7. Millsaps responded with back-to-back 30-yard receptions from Arkansas State transfer Blake Wiley and Temias Mason to pull back within one score.
In the fourth quarter, Thomas continued to run the ball effectively with a seven-yard touchdown with 9:22 remaining. A missed PAT made the game 27-14 in favor of the Tigers. Millsaps then marched the ball down the field on a 15-play drive capped off by a one-yard run from Jennings to make it a six-point game.
Following a red zone stop, Millsaps had a chance to win with 1:31 left to play. Jennings quickly connected with Wiley and Connor Ladner to move the ball 59 yards to the Sewanee 23-yard line. With the Majors needing a touchdown, the Tiger defense forced three incomplete passes and sacked the quarterback to secure the program’s first conference win in five years.
Leading the box score for Millsaps (0-3, 0-1 Southern Athletic Association) was Jennings with 345 yards on 22 of 45 passing with two total touchdowns and an interception. Mason had a career day with 139 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions, while Wiley finished with 80 yards. Linebacker Nehemiah Coalson had eight total tackles, two of which were for loss.
For Sewanee (2-1, 1-0 SAA), Thomas finished with 204 rushing yards as running back Walker Robinson added 132 yards to make for 359 total yards on the ground.
