WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Sept. 20,2025) -- Virginia State fought back from a three-point halftime deficit to defeat Winston-Salem 34-33 on the road on Saturday afternoon.
The Trojans improved to 2-1 on the year, while the Rams fell to 2-2 and 0-1 in CIAA play.
Rashaan Matthews Jr. led Virginia State's passing attack with 137 yards through the air, tossing four touchdowns and one interception. The signal caller also added 85 yards on the ground.
Brandon Rose led all Trojans rushers with 124 yards in the contest, picking up 6.5 yards per carry. Rose also added 38 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Malik Hunter reeled in six catches for 62 yards and one score.
Jason Cole showed out for the Virginia State defense, totaling one recovered fumble. Donovan Hoskins added three tackles, one forced fumble, and one recovered fumble and Dante Clark had one interception in the win.
The Trojans won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing three turnovers while coughing the ball up two times, with Virginia State turning those takeaways into 17 points. Virginia State recorded a stellar performance on the ground, logging 267 rushing yards while averaging 6.8 yards per carry and out-rushing Winston-Salem by 135 yards. Virginia State converted on 69.2 percent of third-down attempts on the day. The Trojans also went 1-for-1 on fourth down.
Virginia State's defense held up fairly well against the run, limiting Winston-Salem to 132 yards on the ground.
How It Happened
After Winston-Salem opened up a 7-0 lead, Virginia State responded with 1:20 left in the first quarter to narrow the margin to 7-3.Winston-Salem then extended its advantage to 10-3, before the Trojans responded with a score of its own to even things up at 10-10.
Winston-Salem then grabbed a 13-10 lead, but Virginia State responded at the 9:49 left mark in the third quarter with an eight-yard touchdown reception from to Rose to jump back ahead 17-13.The Trojans continued to build their advantage, scoring again to go ahead 20-13.
Virginia State continued to build its lead, scoring again with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter to go on top 27-13.The Rams then rallied, tallying seven points before the Trojans responded with a touchdown to extend their lead to 34-20. Virginia State didn't score again and Winston-Salem added 13 more points to finish off the scoring.
Game Notes
» Winston-Salem outgained Virginia State 470-404 in the contest.
» Virginia State won the turnover battle 3-2 after intercepting one pass and recovering two fumbles.
» Virginia State tallied 24 points in the third quarter, accounting for 70.6% of their total score.
» Virginia State converted 9 of 13 third downs while Winston-Salem was successful on 6 of 11.
» The Trojans had two players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by Kj McNeil, who had eight.
» Virginia State scored three touchdowns in the third quarter.
» Virginia State went 1-for-1 on fourth down, converting on 100 percent of attempts.
» Virginia State won the time of possession battle 32:50 to 27:10.
» The Trojans offense came out of halftime firing on all cylinders, scoring 17 unanswered until the Rams got on the board again.
» Matthews Jr. completed 68% of his passes on the day, going 17-for-25.
» Daylin Lee led the Rams passing attack, completing 21 of his 30 attempts for 338 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
