Delaware State capitalizes on Towson’s miscues, holds on for 33-28 win

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The Delaware State University football team earned its third win of the season on Saturday with a 33-28 victory over the Towson Tigers.

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Game Recap:

Delaware State leads by three at the end of the first quarter.

Neither team started well in the early minutes of the game, as Towson’s possessions ended in turnovers on downs and an interception. DSU’s opening drive wasn’t any better; after six plays and 20 yards, it ended with a fumble.

It wasn’t until the fourth drive of the game that points landed on the board, which the Hornets had the ball at the Tigers’ 26-yard line, thanks to an interception. Delaware State went backwards on the drive, having a negative one-yard total in four plays, but they were close enough for senior kicker Patrick Fisher-Butler to boot through a 45-yard field goal to give his team a 3-0 edge with 6:40 left on the clock in the opening quarter.

Towson miscues continued to help DSU as on the kickoff after the score, the Tigers fumbled the ball and Hornets freshman tight end Hayden Thompson scooped it and set up his team at their opponents’ 12-yard line.

Del State’s offense took full advantage of the short field and went 12 yards in 3 plays to end with senior running back Jayden Jenkins dashing for eight yards for the touchdown to extend his team’s advantage to 10-0 with 5:06 remaining in the first.

Towson’s offense responded quickly after that score, as on the first play of their possession, their quarterback Andrew Indorf found his wideout Aaron Enterline for a 75-yard touchdown connection to cut the lead to 10-7.

DSU leads by 13 at the end of the first half.

The first score of the second quarter belonged to the Tigers as they cruised 63 yards in nine plays to end with their quarterback Andrew Indorf connecting with his wide receiver Aaron Enterline for their second touchdown of the day on a two-yard score to give their team a 14-10 advantage with 11:17 left in the first half.

Delaware State grabbed the lead right back with a seven-play, 75-yard drive, which ended with sophomore running back  Sean Weston Jr. rushing three yards for the score to give his team a slim 17-14 edge with seven minutes left in the second.

The game-changing play of the drive came on their fifth play when senior quarterback Ui Ale rushed 53 yards to take his team to Towson’s 10 yard line.

After the Tigers’ offense was stopped on downs at their own 18, it would set up a short field for DSU’s offense to operate. The Hornets took full advantage of it as they went 18 yards in three plays to end with their quarterback Ale finding his junior wideout Nathan Stewart for the 17-yard touchdown to give their team a 24-14 lead with 3:47 remaining in the first half.

Towson’s miscues continued as, after two plays on their drive, they would fumble the ball and Delaware State’s senior linebacker Anthony Harris scooped it up and returned it to the Tigers’ 44-yard line.

DSU would turn that turnover into three points with Patrick Fisher-Butler booting a 26-yard field goal through the uprights to give his team a 27-14 lead at the half.

Delaware State takes home a 33-28 win!

It wasn’t smooth sailing for the Hornets in the second half, as they were outscored by Towson 14-6 and with 4:57 left in the fourth, they trimmed the lead to one point (28-27).

DSU responded with a long four-minute and 15-second, 11-play, 90-yard possession that ended with a six-yard touchdown run by their quarterback, Ui Ale, to seal a 33-28 victory over the Tigers.

Team Stats
1st Downs	19	17
3rd down efficiency	5-10	6-14
4th down efficiency	2-4	1-1
Total Yards	369	298
Passing	247	193
Comp/Att	25/33	19/29
Yards per pass	7.5	6.7
Interceptions thrown	2	0
Rushing	122	105
Rushing Attempts	32	33
Yards per rush	3.8	3.2
Penalties	5-51	9-80
Turnovers	4	1
Fumbles lost	2	1
Interceptions thrown	2	0
Possession	29:54	30:06