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West Virginia State University Athletics

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FB21 Jones
13
West Va. Wesleyan WVWCFB 0-1 , 0-1
38
Winner West Virginia St. WVSU 1-0 , 1-0
West Va. Wesleyan WVWCFB
0-1 , 0-1
13
Final
38
West Virginia St. WVSU
1-0 , 1-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
WVWCFB West Va. Wesleyan 0 13 0 0 13
WVSU West Virginia St. 7 17 14 0 38

Game Recap: Football | | James Garcia, Sports Information Director

West Virginia State trounces West Virginia Wesleyan, 38-13

INSTITUTE, W.Va. --The West Virginia State University football team opened the 2021 spring football season with a 38-13 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon at Lakin Field. The Yellow Jackets shutout the Bobcats in 3-of-4 quarters while putting up points in all but the fourth quarter.

"It was an incredible feeling to be back out there playing football again," said Head Coach John Pennington. "There were a million different emotions going on all at the same time and we came out ready to play.  We are so thankful to our administration and all the people who have helped us back on the field.  It has been a long journey, and there was plenty of rust to shake off, but it was great to come away with a victory and start the season 1-0. 
 
"I thought our leaders did a great job of focusing on one play at a time and I was pleased with our energy on the sideline. WVWC had a good plan and played well, but we know we must improve from the mistakes we made today if we want to continue to win football games.  We didn't finish the way we wanted to and we have plenty to learn from. Our defense was noticeably better and both the offense and special teams had good and bad moments. We're going to enjoy this one for a couple of hours and then get back to working on playing championship caliber football."

WVSU improves to 1-0 on the season with the win while WVWC falls to 0-1 overall with the loss.

Sophomore quarterback Donovan Riddick was named the starter and posted solid numbers from behind center. He completed 13-of-26 passes (50 percent) for 199 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. On the ground, he rushed ten times for 57 yards with a long of 17 yards. Senior fullback Dant'e Jones rushed for three touchdowns while gaining 70 yards on 16 attempts. He also scored a fourth time with a 19-yard touchdown reception.

Senior linebacker Dustin Crouser had a game-high 10 tackles, including eight solo tackles, and added an interception. Fellow senior Kendell Robinson was dominant on the defensive line with three tackles-for-loss, a sack, and a knocked down pass.

Senior kicker Martin Ahlstroem converted all five of his extra point attempts and booted a 38-yard field goal.

Both teams struggled to string a drive together early on in the first quarter. A shanked punt by West Virginia Wesleyan gave the Yellow Jackets possession near midfield with six minutes remaining in the opening quarter. A 39-yard pass completion to Barry Hill in a third-and-short situation moved the ball down to the seven yard line. Jones eventually punched the ball into the endzone after an offside penalty gave WVSU an extra set of downs. The point after attempt sailed through the uprights, 7-0.

After another drive stalled out for the Bobcats, Jakar Tucker caught the special teams unit napping when he picked up a short punt and returned it to the house at the start of the second quarter, 14-0. West Virginia Wesleyan put together a 59-yard drive on the next possession to cut the lead to seven points, 14-7. 

West Virginia State got the ball back with 11-and-a-half minutes to go in the first half. Freshman wideout Luke Gadson had two huge chunk plays to start the drive. He picked up 56-yards to move the pigskin down to West Virginia Wesleyan's 13 yard line. The Yellow Jackets went backwards after Gadson's pair of 26-yard receptions, but Ahlstroem salvaged it with a 38-yard field goal, 17-7. On the ensuing kickoff, WVWC ran it back 88-yards for the score. The PAT missed badly, 17-13.

After a couple of failed offensive possessions by both sides, West Virginia State embarked on an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended with another Dant'e Jones short-yardage score, 24-13. The drive lasted four minutes and left 1:28 on the clock in the first half. 

The Bobcats made it to West Virginia State's 39 yard line with their two-minute offense. Defensive end Jamal Fox halted the final drive of the first half when he sacked the quarterback on fourth down.

The Yellow Jackets received the kickoff in the second half and proceeded to tack on another touchdown in the opening drive. A 15-yard offensive pass interference penalty left West Virginia State with 23 yards to pick up on third down early in the drive. A 26-yard pass completion to Tyrone Lyte kept the drive alive. Dant'e Jones finished off the drive with a 19-yard reception from Riddick, 31-13.

Later in the third quarter, an interception by Jalen Jones set up the WVSU offense inside the 20. Riddick nearly scored on a 17-yard scamper before Jones broke the plane from one yard out, 38-13.

Neither team was able to score in the fourth quarter. Freshman defensive back Darius Madison came close on the last play of the game when he returned an interception 53 yards before being tackled at the one yard line.

The Bobcats were held to nine yards on the ground by the WVSU defense. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets rushed for 169 yards on 41 attempts. 

West Virginia State was better at taking care of the football. The Yellow Jackets did not commit any turnovers. On the other hand, West Virginia Wesleyan threw three interceptions.

WVSU will host Concord on Saturday, March 20th next. The kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
 
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