ETTRICK, VA – The VSU Trojan football team is preparing to put an end to a three-game skid at home against the Falcons of St. Augustine's University. The game will kick-off on October 2, 2021 at 6:00pm at Rogers stadium in Ettrick, Virginia.
SAU at VSU |
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VSU is off to a rough start to the season losing by a total of 17 points over the last two weeks. The Trojans dropped a road game to Fayetteville State University, 28-14, a week ago which results in a record of 0-3. The Virginia State defense held the Broncos to just 2-of-13 on third down conversions and just 3.2 yards per carry. SAU also enters the weekend coming off a loss to an undefeated, Chowan University, 59-12.The Falcons were down by only two points at the end of the first quarter before the Hawks scored 45 unanswered points through the remainder of the game.
Virginia State leads the series 4-0 over the Falcons after winning the first matchup, 6-3, in 2008. The last matchup saw VSU take down the Falcons, 34-7, in week three of 2019.
Demetrius Strickland rushed for 114 yards and two scores with 6.7 yards per rush in the win against SAU.
Na'Shawn Reid-Carlos amassed five tackles and tacked on an interception early in the second quarter.
The Trojans offense will be expecting to find their identity against the Falcons who have given up close to 60 points per game this season. The three touchdowns on offense have come from the running game this season, as
Kimo Clarke (2) and
Demetrius Strickland (1) have been the only ones to get in the box on offense this season.
Marquez Phillips leads the team in receptions (10) and receiving yardage (121). This VSU offense shows promise in the passing game as the team currently averages nearly 10 yards per catch while completing 50% of their passes. The squad has yet to truly find their stride, as they are 28% on third down and 1-of-5 in the red zone but they look to find themselves against St Augustine's.
While the statistics may not show it, this VSU defense has proved to have one of the best the conference has to offer as they have only given up a total of 31 points in the last two weeks. The defense currently has five players ranked within the top-25 of the conference in tackles as the group of five combines for 110 tackles in just three games. Leading the way is
Will Adams as he currently has the second most tackles in the conference with 28 total tackles (18 solo) from his safety position. Adams set the tone the first game of the season with 12 total tackles against LRU.
Adonte Braxton not only shows his ability to set edges with 5.5 tackles for loss, he also gets involved with the pass rush with two sacks.
Zion Johnson has the third-most tackles on the team with 22 stops.
Javon Frazier has continued to wreak havoc in the run and pass game with five tackles behind the line of scrimmage and three sacks, which ranks him near the top of the conference. The defensive aggression has led to four total turnovers one of them being returned for a touchdown. The VSU showed great improvement on third (money) down a week ago allowing just a 15% conversion rate for the FSU offense.
For St. Augustine's, the offense averages 13 points per game while averaging 139 total yards per game in the 2021 season. The SAU offense is led by Deandre Proctor as he has gained 229 yards on four catches and two touchdowns. Proctor caught a pass that went 92 yards to the end zone which is the longest touchdown scored from scrimmage in the CIAA this season. Demetrius Johnson leads the team in tackles (12) while also accounting for a half of a tackle for loss.
*In order to attend the game, fans must be fully vaccinated (with a valid vaccination card) and one form of identification.
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