ETTRICK, Virginia --Seven different players scored touchdowns, led by two scores from Kevin Gayles, as Virginia State handily beat Livingstone 59-7 on Saturday afternoon inside Rogers Stadium.
The Trojans improved to 6-1 on the year and 5-0 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association play, while the Blue Bears fell to 2-5 and 2-4.
Rahsaan Matthews Jr. led Virginia State's passing attack with 302 yards through the air, tossing five touchdowns without throwing an interception. The signal caller also added 54 yards on the ground.
Tj Mordecai totaled 75 yards to lead the Trojans' ground attack in the game, picking up 5.4 yards per carry along the way.
The most prolific target for Virginia State quarterbacks was Ajenavi Byrd, who caught four passes for 117 yards and one score. Jaylen Pretlow got in on the action in the passing game as well, hauling in six balls for 59 yards and one touchdown. The Trojans also got 56 yards receiving and two touchdowns from Gayles in the contest.
Amir Mateo showed out for the Virginia State defense, collecting two interceptions. Donzell Jones-Teal added 1.0 TFL and one sack and Rikieh Hopkins had four tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one sack in the win.
The Trojans won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing two turnovers while avoiding any giveways, with Virginia State turning those takeaways into seven points. Virginia State also had an outstanding day offensively, racking up 632 total yards, 234 on the ground and 398 through the air, while averaging 8.3 yards per play and out-gaining Livingstone. Virginia State converted on 53.8 percent of third-down attempts on the day. The Trojans also went 1-for-1 on fourth down.
Defensively, Virginia State did an impressive job neutralizing the Livingstone offensive attack, holding the Blue Bears to 172 total yards. The Trojans kept Livingstone under 100 yards on both the ground and through the air, allowing just 83 passing and 89 rushing yards. The Trojans defense disrupted the Livingstone passing game on the way to pulling down two interceptions and breaking up three Blue Bears passes.
Virginia State took care of business in the red zone, scoring five times on five trips inside Livingstone's 20-yard line, with all of those scores being touchdowns.
How It HappenedVirginia State put up 59 points on nine different scoring plays. The Trojans got on the board first, taking the lead for good at 3-0 with 3:26 left in the first quarter. converted a chance from 39 yards out to finish off an eight-play, 23-yard scoring drive. The Trojans then rode that lead to victory, increasing their advantage by 49 points along the way.
Game Notes» Virginia State outgained Livingstone 632-172, including a 398-83 advantage through the air.
» Virginia State won the turnover battle 2-0 after picking off two passes.
» The Trojans scored first with 3:26 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» Virginia State had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth period, when they put up 21 points.
» Virginia State converted 7 of 13 third downs while Livingstone was successful on 2 of 13.
» Raja'ee Jones led the Trojans with eight tackles.
» Virginia State scored three third-quarter touchdowns.
» Virginia State scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
» Virginia State went 1-for-1 on fourth down, converting on 100 percent of attempts.
» Virginia State won the time of possession battle 35:58 to 24:02.
» Matthews Jr. completed 66.7% of his passes on the day, going 18-for-27 while averaging 11.2 yards per attempt.
» Brandon Edinburgh Jr led the Blue Bears passing attack, completing 12 of his 26 attempts for 83 yards with two interceptions.
» Javen Parker led the Livingstone rushing attack with 41 yards.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
