New coach but same result for Mississippi Valley State when it comes to instate rival Alcorn State.
The Delta Devils dropped their 12th straight to the Braves, losing 56-20 Saturday night in Itta Bena at Rice-Totten Stadium.
Like that the last four meetings, this one wasn’t close at all. MVSU has now been outscored 276-50 by Alcorn the last five times out.
Valley (0-3) is still looking for its first win in the Vincent Dancy era and has now lost seven straight, with its last win coming on Oct. 21, 2017, in a 53-5 decision against Virgina Lynchburg.
The Delta Devils led 7-0 in the first quarter after a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Christopher Fowler, but the Braves responded with 27 straight points for a 20-point cushion at the half.
Valley found a little life in the third quarter when Greenwood’s Booker T. Chambers returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown to get Valley back within 13, but the Braves quickly answered with a 7-play, 64-yard touchdown drive capped by a 15-yard TD run by Marquise Forman to make it 34-14 with 7:48 to play in the third quarter.
Alcorn then pushed its lead to 54-14 with 6:30 to play before Valley got its third and final touchdown, a 3-yard pass from quarterback Dejerric Bryant to Quinn McElfresh.
Valley was sacked six times for minus-41 yards and wound up with a mere 22 yards rushing. Alcorn (3-1) held Texas Southern to zero rushing yards in the first half last week’s 27-15 win.
The Braves outgained MVSU 665-200 in total yards, piling up 462 on the ground as three different Alcorn players went over 100 yards — led by P.J. Simmons with 201 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.
Noah Johnson and Forman added 139 and 119 yards on the ground, respectively.
Greenwood’s JohnDerrick Smith paced the Valley ground attack with 25 yards on three carries late in the game.
Starting quarterback Fowler completed 8 of 24 passes for 79 yards and an interception. He was replaced by Bryant, who finished 7-of-13 passing for 99 yards and a TD. Steven McIntosh led all Valley receivers with 80 yards on five catches.
nContact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
