PINE BLUFF -- Mississippi Valley State had lost 15 of its past 16 games going into Saturday night's game at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, but the Delta Devils looked nothing like a team mired in a funk.
Freshman quarterback Dewayne Betts completed 17 of 27 passes for 272 yards and 4 touchdowns to power Mississippi Valley State to a 38-31 victory over UAPB in Southwestern Athletic Conference play at Golden Lion Stadium.
Junior wide receiver Steven McIntosh had 5 catches for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Delta Devils (1-4, 1-1), who finished with 471 yards of offense to snap a six-game skid and win their first game of the season.
"Someone asked me Monday if Valley would sneak up on us, and I said no because we knew how good they were," UAPB Coach Monte Coleman said. "[Valley] has played some tough competition, but their record isn't indicative of how good of a team they are, and they showed that in this one.
"They made plays. We had them down, and they made two big plays to get back in the game after we'd jumped out on them."
Backup quarterback LeEarl Patterson started in place of senior Brandon Duncan and went 17 of 33 for 215 yards and 1 touchdown for UAPB (2-4, 1-2), which lost to Mississippi Valley State for the second year in a row. Junior running back KeShawn Williams, who sat out last week's game with a hip pointer, ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
The Delta Devils, who'd been outscored 223-23 in their first four games, had 373 yards of offense during their second-half comeback.
Mississippi Valley State trailed 17-14 at halftime but tied the game on sophomore kicker Nicholas Jacquemin's 42-yard field goal with 12:23 to go in the third quarter. The Delta Devils grabbed their first lead on Betts' 12-yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end Tyron Hundley at the 6:49 mark, but UAPB would tie it at 24-24 on its next offensive play when Williams ran 74 yards for a touchdown.
But Betts, who replaced fellow freshman Christopher Fowler in the second quarter, guided Mississippi Valley State on what turned out to be the game-winning score. The Delta Devils drove 75 yards in 11 plays, with Betts hitting junior wide receiver Quinn McElfresh for a 7-yard touchdown.
UAPB appeared to have tied the game on senior running back Dante McDonald's 24-yard run on its next possession, but he was hit just before crossing the goal line. The Delta Devils recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback and tacked on another score on Betts' 61-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Steven McIntosh.
"That was huge," Coleman said. "We talk a lot about winning that giveaway, takeaway battle because that's been hindering us all year. Dante ran the ball extremely hard all night, but that fumble was a tough one."
Patterson threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Tyrin Ralph with 58.4 seconds left in the game, but the Delta Devils recovered the Golden Lions' onside-kick attempt and ran out the clock.
Both teams finished with two turnovers each, but UAPB cashed in on Mississippi Valley State's first miscue. Junior defensive back Shufon Alcorn picked off a pass by Fowler and returned it 52 yards to the Delta Devils' 26. Two plays later, Williams broke through the middle of the line and sprinted 24 yards for a touchdown to give the Golden Lions a 7-0 lead.
The Golden Lions extended their margin on the next series. The Delta Devils turned the ball over on downs at the UAPB 28, and the Golden Lions moved 72 yards in seven plays, getting a 2-yard touchdown run from McDonald to open up a 14-point advantage.
Mississippi Valley State got just its fourth touchdown of the season when Betts hit McIntosh in stride for a 25-yard score with 7:36 left in the second quarter to finish off a nine-play, 73-yard drive. The Delta Devils later tied the game at 14-14.
UAPB managed to take a 17-14 into the locker room after junior kicker Jamie Gillan nailed a 51-yard field goal with 10.7 seconds left before halftime.
Sports on 10/08/2017