Battle of the Eagles Legends: DeSean Jackson’s Delaware State Defeats Michael Vick’s Norfolk State 27-20

Photo: Pexels

The Delaware State University’s football team earned its sixth win of the season on Thursday with a 27-20 victory over the Norfolk State Spartans. This was a special game, featuring two head coaches who were former beloved Philadelphia Eagles players: DeSean Jackson, coaching the Delaware State University (DSU) Hornets, and Michael Vick, coaching the Spartans. The game took place at Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the Eagles, and was played in front of a packed crowd of fans. With this victory, the Hornets improved to 2-0 against MEAC opponents this season.

The Standouts in this game were running backs James Jones and Marquis Gillis.

Jones had 109 yards on ten carries with one touchdown in the win.

Gillis had 79 yards on 17 carries in the game.

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Delaware State holds a three-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams would drain a lot of clock in the first quarter with their drives, but nothing much came out of them.

Norfolk State started the game with a lengthy possession that lasted six minutes and 44 seconds. They executed 11 plays covering 42 yards before ultimately punting the ball.

Delaware State’s first drive was a long one, too, as it drained seven minutes and 51 seconds off the clock. The Hornets went 67 yards in 16 plays but eventually stalled out at the Spartans’ 13-yard line. Unlike Norfolk, DSU would get three points out of the possession when sophomore kicker Patrick Fisher Butler booted a 30-yard field goal through the uprights.

The Hornets hold a four-point lead at the end of the first half.

After no touchdowns in the first quarter from either offense, the crowd at the Lincoln Financial Field finally saw a touchdown go on the board in the early second.

It would come from the Spartans, who went on a five-minute and 25-second, ten-play, 75-yard drive, which ended with quarterback Otto Kuhns finding his wideout JJ Evans for a 13-yard touchdown reception to take a 6-3 edge with 9:53 left in the opening half. They missed the extra point after the score.

Two possessions later, Norfolk started at its own 15-yard line and went backwards in three plays with a negative one yard and had to punt. The punt would get blocked by Delaware State’s senior defensive back Amir Anderson, who also returned for a touchdown to give his team a 10-6 edge at the end of the first half.

Delaware State leads by seven points at the end of the third quarter.

After halftime, the scoring remained slow as the Hornets only scored three points in their second possession of the new half, which were the only points of the third quarter.

In the scoring drive, the Hornets started to get their rushing attack roaring as senior running back Marquis Gillis rushed for 31 yards and caught an eight-yard pass during that time.

The Hornets take home a 27-20 win!

In the early minutes of the fourth quarter, the DSU offense would put its first touchdown on the board for the game. The scoring drive wiped out nine minutes and 37 seconds of the game clock. The team marched 97 yards in 17 plays to end with senior quarterback Kaiden Bennett hitting junior tight end Tahmir Ellis for the 24-yard touchdown reception to give Delaware State a 19-6 advantage with 9:40 remaining in the game.

On the eighth play of the drive, on a third and ten on their own 29-yard line, the Hornets benefited from a huge 15-yard penalty that gave them a first down.

Norfolk State punched right by driving 90 yards in five plays to end with quarterback Otto Kuhn throwing a 70-yard bomb to his wideout JJ Evans for a touchdown to cut the deficit to six (19-13) with 7:20 left in the fourth.

DSU answered right back with a two-play, 89-yard drive, which ended with Junior running back James Jones dashing 76 yards for the score to give his team a 27-13 lead with 6:38 remaining in the game.

On the Spartans’ next drive, they would move 64 yards in four plays, only to have it ended with Tahmir Ellis intercepting the ball.

Two possessions later, Norfolk State would score a touchdown, but the Hornets would still win 27-20.

Team Stats

Team Stats
1st Downs	22	21
3rd down efficiency	3-10	6-13
4th down efficiency	1-1	0-0
Total Yards	356	364
Passing	311	163
Comp/Att	22/34	17/22
Yards per pass	9.1	7.4
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Rushing	45	201
Rushing Attempts	26	41
Yards per rush	1.7	4.9
Penalties	11-97	7-71
Turnovers	1	0
Fumbles lost	0	0
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Possession	27:32	32:28