ETTRICK, VA – Virginia State football hung tough in the evening matchup against Lenoir-Rhyne but allowed the Bears to pull away in the second have 19-38. While the VSU defense forced five turnovers, poorly timed penalties and turnovers proved to be downfall of the Trojans. On the bright side, the Trojans were beat by 41 points in the home opener a season ago against the Bears which means the Trojans have shown improvement from last season.
 
 
Game Information
Score: Virginia State 19, Lenoir-Rhyne, 38
Records: Virginia State (0-1, 0-0), Lenoir-Rhyne (1-0, 0-0)
Location: Moretz Stadium (Hickory, NC)
Series: LR leads the series 1-3
 
 
Inside the Box Score

• The Trojans defense forced five turnovers in the contest.
• The VSU rushing attacked gained 125 rushing yards.
• In his first collegiate game, Jalen Spratt accounted for three catches for 15 yards and a pair of receiving touchdowns.
• Jabari Blake completed 47% of his passes for 132 yards with a pair of passing touchdowns and two interceptions on the evening.
• Upton Bailey led the rushing attack with five carries for 37 yards while Darius Hagans scored the Trojans lone rushing touchdown.
• Zion Johnson (6) and Kymon Pope (6) combined 12 tackles. Johnson ended up recovering the fumble the Pope forced while Pope also added a tackle-for-loss to his stat line.
• Willie Drew amassed three tackles with an interception, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup.
• Marteise Phipps accounted for three tackles along with two tackles-for-loss and a sack.
   
   
  FIRST HALF

• On the first play from scrimmage, Rodney Jones stepped in front of a pass for an interception which set the offense up in plus territory. Jabari Blake completed two of two passes and added a 15-yard run to set the Trojans up on the LR 1 yard line with a fresh set of downs. On third down, Darius Hagans was able to break the plane to give the Trojans their first touchdown of the season. After freshman kicker Matthew Ward split the uprights, the Trojans led 7-0 early in the first quarter.
• On the ensuing kickoff, LR was able to put together a 43-yard return down to the VSU 43 yardline to start their drive. LR's running back led their drive as he amassed 21 rushing yards in a drive which was capped off by a seven-yard touchdown pass to even the score at seven.
• After Jabari Blake was picked off, the Bears took over on the 15 yard line of the Trojans. Despite LR having the ball on VSU's 10 yard line with a first down and goal opportunity, Javon Burks, Rodney Jones and Kymon Pope bowed their necks on the goaline to force a LR field goal to make the score 7-10 with 3:03 left in the opening quarter.
• Following a punt from Upton Bailey, LRU setup shop on their own 42 yard line. Only one play into the opening drive of the second quarter, veteran Willie Drew caught the VSU defenses second interception of the half to give VSU the ball back on their own 15 yard line.
• The first play of the drive following the turnover resulted in another turnover as Jabari Blake put the ball on the turf which allowed the LR offense to start their drive on the VSU 15 yard line.
• Following the turnover, Kymon Pope and Zemar Anderson had something to say as they forced the LR offense into a fourth down. The Bears decided to go for it but Ahmad Poole was not having it as he forced the turnover on downs.
• On a drive that started on their own nine yard line, the VSU offense found life as they drove the ball down the field in 16 plays and 7:08. Unfortunately, the drive stalled out on the LR 35 yard line.
• After two three-and-outs, LR regained control of the ball on their own 37 yard line with :44 to go in the half. Following a pair of completions to put LR in plus territory, the VSU defense gave up a 45-yard bomb which made the score 7-17 with just :15 left in the half.

 

• The Bears took the lead into the locker room 7-17.

 
SECOND HALF

• Following a three-and-out by VSU, Kymon Pope punched the ball out on the VSU 46 yardline which was recovered by All-CIAA defensive selection Zion Johnson on the first play of the drive.
• After the VSU offense failed to moved the ball which forced a punt, Chantz Baylor intercepted the LR quarterback for a third time in the contest but unlike the first two he returned it 26 yards all the way down to the LR eight yard line which gave the Trojans offense a great opportunity to put points on the board.
• The Trojans only needed two plays to fins the endzone as Jabari Blake connected with freshman Jalen Spratt for a touchdown from eight yards out. The point after attempt was blocked which made the score now 13-17.
• As the Bears made a change at quarterback, the offense found new life as Bears were able to find the endzone through the air from 27 yards out to make the score 13-24.
• The start of the fourth quarter was a rough one for the Trojans as the Bears marched 40 yards in seven plays and capped the drive with a nine-yard rushing touchdown which extended the Bears lead out to 13-31.
• Jabari Blake came out the next drive extremely efficient completing six of seven passes as the Trojans put together their longest drive of the day marching 77 yards in 13 plays which took all of 5:44. Upton Bailey's run of 22 yards was the only chunk play of the drive as the offense kept plugging away until Jabari Blake found Jalen Spratt for the duo's second touchdowns of the day to make the score 19-31.
• On the ensuing kickoff, Willie Drew jumped on a self-inflicted fumble by LR which gave Drew his second turnover of the day. The fumble recovery allowed VSU to set up shop on the LR 36 yard line.
• On the following fourth down play, Jabari Blake threw an interception which allowed the Bears to set up shop on their own 27 yard line.
• The LR offense capped a 12-play 73-yard drive with a one-yard quarterback sneak to put the game away to make it 19-38 with :46 left to go.

 
Up Next
The Trojans are set to open the home portion of their schedule on September 10 at 6:00 p.m. against Bluefield State. This will be the first game on the new turf in Rogers stadium.