Ettrick, Va (Sept. 21, 2024)- The Virginia State University football team held the lead until the final six seconds when a Winston-Salem State University field goal, which untimely won the game for the Rams 15-14.
Neither team could sustain a drive for their first possession. In the Rams second possession in the first quarter, they used their running game to the VSU 25-yard line where the Rams quarterback threw an interception to Kenny Bennett in the endzone. However the following drive for the Trojans stalled and sent the punt team out there, but Kyle Miller's punt was blocked and recovered by the Rams in plus territory. WSSU used up the rest of the first quarter and 30 seconds of the second period and was rewarded with a field goal.
The Trojans answered with a touchdown run by Tylique Ray which capped a nine play 59 yard drive. During the drive Jimmyll Williams had a huge 30-yard rush to get VSU into WSSU territory. Neither team could manage to score the rest of the half despite both having long sustained drives.
To start the second half both teams had a three and out. VSU then had to punt the ball back to WSSU who used their next drive to go on a 12 play 58-yard drive to add their second field goal of the game. They used a good combination of run and pass to go down the field, but VSU still held a one-point advantage at 7-6. The next two drives for both teams resulted in punts.
With their first possession in the fourth stanza the Trojans used seven and a half minutes of clock and marched down the field to score another rushing touchdown. Ray would score his second rushing touchdown this time from 14 yards out. However, it only took the Rams on play to answer as they ran a 78-yard touchdown but missed on the two-point attempt to make the score 14-12. The Trojans would only get a minute and a half off the clock before punting back to the Rams.
In the Rams final drive, they were able to chew clock and convert some huge third downs. Eventually they found themselves on the three-yard line where they would kick the winning field goal.
J Williams lead the team with 87 yards rushing. Malik Hunter had four catches for 44 yards. Cameron Davis recorded 15 tackles and one tackle for loss. VSU will return to Rogers Stadium next week for a game against Fayetteville State on September 28 at 2 p.m.
