Courtesy: MVSU Sports Information
PINE BLUFF, Ark. – It was another tight matchup, but for the second week in a row Mississippi Valley State came up with the short end of the stick.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-2, 5-1 SWAC) held on for a 10-0 victory over the Delta Devils to secure their third-straight victory. UAPB has now won the last five meetings between the schools.
The Delta Devils (2-6, 2-4 SWAC) were unable to capitalize off four UAPB turnovers throughout the game.
The Golden Lions lost all three of its fumbles and Jeremy Johnson picked off a Ben Anderson pass. Still, MVSU was unable to turn the turnovers into points.
UAPB scored the game’s only TD on a 21-yard run by Justin Billings early in the second quarter. A 29-yard field goal with 6:46 left in the first half was turned out to be the final score of the game.
MVSU, which boasts the third-ranked defense in FCS, slowed down one of the SWAC’s most explosive offenses, limiting the Golden Lions to 259 total yards.
Meanwhile, Valley running back Brandon Stansell rushed for 102 yards on 16 carries, marking the third time this season the senior standout has gained at least 100 yards on the ground. Over the past three games, Stansell had been limited to a total of 40 rushing yards.
Trey Bateaste added 46 rushing yards on 13 attempts.
Delta Devil quarterback Garrick Jones finished 7-of-21 through the air for 50 yards. Julian Stafford paced Valley with four catches for 16 yards.
Keven Woods continued his stellar senior campaign by racking up 12 tackles (2 for loss) along with a sack, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
The Delta Devils will return home next Saturday at 1 p.m. when they host Alcorn State.
