Rushing game powers Delaware State to 70-23 blowout over Southern Connecticut State

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The Delaware State University’s football team earned its fourth win of the season on Saturday with a dominating 70-23 victory over the Division II Southern Connecticut State Owls.

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The Hornets had three running backs in the game who went over 100 yards rushing in this game. They were James Jones, Marquis Gillis, and freshman Kobe Boykin.

Jones had 158 yards on three carries with two touchdowns in the win.

Gillis had 130 yards on nine carries with one touchdown in the game.

Boykin had 100 yards on seven carries with one touchdown in the victory.

Related:

Delaware State Secures Third Straight Win, Defeats Saint Francis 39-10

Delaware State Hornets lead by 15 at the end of the first quarter.

The game started looking nothing like how it would end, as the first drives for the Hornets and Southern Connecticut State went nowhere.

On DSU’s second possession, they were backed up at their own five-yard line, but that didn’t stop them from finding the endzone. Junior running back James Jones started the drive with a five-yard gain and then galloped 90 yards on the second play for the touchdown, and the team would also convert the two-point to try to put them up 8-0 with 8:31 remaining in the first.

Three drives later, the rushing attack for DSU remained on fire as this time senior running back Marquis Gillis ran 55 yards for the score to give his team a 15-0 edge at the end of the opening quarter.

The Hornets lead by 18 at the end of the first half.

SC State would get on the board in the early second quarter, thanks to Delaware State having a Safety, which put the score at 15-2.

After the Safety mishap, the Hornets would get the ball back two drives later at their own 37-yard line. They wasted no time finding the end zone on this possession, as James Jones scored his second touchdown of the day with a 63-yard run to give his team a 22-2 lead with 11:05 left in the opening half.

The Owls answered back with a scoring drive on their own as they went 75 yards in two plays to end with quarterback John Giller finding wideout Seth Westover for the 73-yard touchdown pass to tighten the deficit to 22-9.

DSU punched right back as they marched 85 yards in five plays to end with senior quarterback Kaiden Bennett rushing 44 yards for the score to give the team a 29-9 advantage heading into halftime.

DSU leads by 27 at the end of the third quarter.

After SC State couldn’t punch it in for points on their opening drive in the second half, it was Delaware State’s turn, and they had much better luck.

The Hornets didn’t waste much time, as junior quarterback Jayden Sauray would run 81 yards for the score on the third play of the possession to give his team a 36-9 lead with 9:51 left in the third.

Southern Connecticut State responded right after that with a score of their own, as they went 79 yards in eight plays to end with quarterback John Giller throwing his second touchdown of the day, cutting the deficit to 20 points (36-16) with 4:59 remaining in the third quarter.

Delaware State’s offense continued to hum as they drove 83 yards in four plays to end with Sauray finding senior tight end Maurice Clark for the 22-yard touchdown to push their team’s advantage to 43-16 at the end of the third quarter.

The Hornets take home a 70-23 win!

DSU continued to have all the momentum in the fourth as they scored 27 points, including two rushing and one passing touchdown to seal a dominating 70-23 victory over SC State.

Team Stats

Team Stats
1st Downs	23	22
3rd down efficiency	7-17	2-4
4th down efficiency	0-1	0-2
Total Yards	314	791
Passing	244	183
Comp/Att	16/27	10/12
Yards per pass	9.0	15.3
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Rushing	70	608
Rushing Attempts	50	36
Yards per rush	1.4	16.9
Penalties	3-25	12-122
Turnovers	2	2
Fumbles lost	1	2
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Possession	39:16	20:44