DeSean Jackson Earns First Win as Delaware State Head Coach, 37-32 Over Albany

Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash

The Delaware State University’s football team earned its first win of the season on Saturday, capturing a wild, weather-delayed 37-32 victory over the University at Albany Great Danes in a marathon game that lasted 7 1/2 hours. The win also marks the first NCAA victory for DeSean Jackson, the former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver and new Hornets head coach.

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The first quarter had the points going on the scoreboard pretty fast, as the Great Danes opened the game with their quarterback, Jack Shields, throwing a 75-yard touchdown pass to wideout Tavahri Groves, which gave them a 7-0 lead with 14:18 left on the clock.

Delaware State pushed right back by marching 80 yards in six plays, and with their quarterback Kaiden Bennett rushing 19 yards for the score to tie the game up at 7-7 with 8:15 left in the first.

Albany’s QB Shields also ended his team’s drive with a rushing touchdown (1-yard run), after the team went 75 yards in nine plays to give his team back the edge of a 14-7 score.

Bennett led his Hornets right back for a score with a long six-minute and six-second drive that went 75 yards to end with him blasting off on a 37-yard run to the end zone to tie the game at 14 heading into the second quarter.

The Great Danes were the only ones to find the endzone in the second as Jack Shields found wide receiver Caden Burti for a 35-yard touchdown to give their team a 20-14 lead at halftime.

DeSean Jackson’s team answered back strong in the early minutes of the second half with a seven-play, 68-yard drive that ended with a 26-yard touchdown run to give DSU a 21-20 lead with 12 minutes left in the third.

The Hornets would add another three points to their advantage in the third, taking a 24-20 score into the fourth, where the two teams had to wait out the weather for a while.

Delaware State continued to power ahead in the early minutes of the fourth quarter by marching 86 yards in 16 plays to end with running back Sean Weston galloping seven yards for the score to give his team a 31-20 edge with 9:23 left in the game.

The Great Danes responded with back-to-back scores to take a 32-31 lead with 4:38 left in the fourth quarter.

Delaware State would seal the victory with a game-winning 72-yard, 14-play drive that drained four minutes and four seconds off the clock. The possession ended with Kaiden Bennett showing off his wheels once more and dashing 27 yards to give the Hornets a wild, rainy, and hard-fought 37-32 victory.