The Delaware State football team is off to their best start in 18 years and has their longest winning streak in 13 years after a dominant performance on the road Saturday.
The Hornets jumped out to a 20-0 lead and never looked back in defeating Saint Francis (Pa.) 39-10, picking up their third straight win.
The win streak is Delaware State’s longest since 2012, the last time they had a winning season. The 3-1 start to the season is the best since their last MEAC championship year of 2007, when they went 10-1 in the regular season.
Here is how Delaware State kept their winning streak going.
Timely turnovers
The Delaware State defense forced three turnovers in the first three games but came up with three big ones Saturday at SFU. The first occurred when a Saint Francis pass play went for 30 yards but ended in disaster as the Hornets jarred the ball loose from Brenden Hodge’s grip and recovered. That led to James Jones’ second touchdown of the half from a yard out for a 26-3 halftime lead.
The second turnover was the biggest as on 4th and goal with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, defensive back Christian Garrett intercepted Red Flash quarterback Nick Whitfield Jr.’s pass in the end zone to preserve a 26-10 Delaware State advantage. Lonnell McCall II added another INT for the Hornets late in the fourth quarter.
More ground power
The Hornets came into Saturday’s game leading all of NCAA FCS in total rushing offense. That trend continued by gashing the SFU defense to the tune of 298 yards on the ground.
Junior running back James Jones had another standout performance, effectively putting the game away with a 90-yard touchdown dash to make the score 20-0 just 1 minute and 12 seconds into the second quarter.
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Jones led Delaware State with 111 yards on just seven carries and ran for three touchdowns in the first half. Marquis Gillis added 70 yards rushing and Kaiden Bennett pitched in two late rushing touchdowns to bring his season total to seven.
Cleaning up their act
Head coach DeSean Jackson has not been happy with the lack of discipline the Hornets have shown so far this season, especially after back-to-back weeks of 16 penalties in wins over Albany and Bowie State.
Saturday at Saint Francis, the Hornets were flagged just five times for 44 yards, proof that Jackson and his coaching staff’s lessons are starting to pay off.
