VA., Virginia --Virginia State's defense kept the Bowie State offense to only 13 points and the Trojans cruised to a 42-13 victory at home Saturday afternoon.
The Trojans improved to 2-0 on the year and 1-0 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association play, while the Bulldogs fell to 0-1 and 0-1.
Rahsaan Matthews Jr. led Virginia State's passing attack with 401 yards through the air, tossing five touchdowns and one interception. The signal caller also added 43 yards on the ground.
Brandon Rose led all Trojans rushers with 43 yards in the contest. Rose also added 30 receiving yards.
Jaylen Pretlow reeled in six catches for 129 yards and two scores. Nazir McKenzie got in on the action in the passing game as well, hauling in three balls for 62 yards and two touchdowns. The Trojans also got 56 yards receiving from Ajenavi Byrd in the contest.
Amir Mateo showed out for the Virginia State defense, recording four tackles and two interceptions. Maurice Calloway added 0.5 TFL and one recovered fumble and Tristan Mccall had six tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one sack in the win.
Both teams forced three turnovers in Saturday's contest, with Virginia State turning those takeaways into seven points. Virginia State also had an outstanding day offensively, totaling 545 total yards, 144 on the ground and 401 through the air, while averaging 7.7 yards per play and out-gaining Bowie State. Virginia State converted on 58.3 percent of third-down attempts on the day. The Trojans also went 1-for-1 on fourth down.
Defensively, Virginia State held up fairly well against the Bowie State offensive attack, holding the Bulldogs to 342 total yards. The Trojans defense disrupted the Bowie State passing attack on the way to pulling down two interceptions and breaking up four Bulldogs passes.
Virginia State took care of business in the red zone, scoring four times on five trips inside Bowie State's 20-yard line, with all of those scores being touchdowns.
How It Happened
After falling behind 7-0, Virginia State responded with a touchdown with 5:16 left in the first quarter to tie it at 7-7.The Trojans proceeded to bust up the 7-7 tie with a 56-yard touchdown reception from to McKenzie, making the score 14-7.
Bowie State then scored to make it a 14-10 game, but Virginia State responded with 9:35 left in the second quarter to increase its lead to 21-10.The Trojans kept building their lead, scoring again to go ahead 28-10.
Virginia State continued to build its advantage after Bowie State made it a 28-13 game, scoring again with 13:38 left in the fourth quarter make the score 35-13.The Trojans kept scoring, tacking on a touchdown to increase their advantage to 42-13. Neither team scored again in the game.
Game Notes
» Virginia State had two players reach the promised land multiple times, as McKenzie scored two touchdowns and Pretlow added another two.
» Virginia State outgained Bowie State 545-342, including a 401-231 advantage through the air.
» Virginia State had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth period, when they put up 14 points.
» Virginia State converted 7 of 12 third downs while Bowie State was successful on 3 of 11.
» Virginia State went 1-for-1 on fourth down, converting on 100 percent of attempts.
» Virginia State gave up just six points in four Bowie State trips to the red zone.
» Virginia State forced one red zone turnover in the contest.
» The Trojans didn't allow a sack in the contest.
» Virginia State won the time of possession battle 30:54 to 29:06.
» The Trojans ended the game on a high note, scoring 14 unanswered points to close out the contest.
» Rahsaan Matthews Jr. completed 70.3% of his passes on the day, going 26-for-37 while averaging 10.8 yards per attempt.
» Joshuah Keith led the Bulldogs passing attack, completing 11 of his 20 attempts for 221 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.
» Makhy Acey was Bowie State's leading receiver with 170 yards.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
