Mississippi Valley State’s bid for back-to-back wins for the first time in five years was denied by Texas Southern.
The Delta Devils lost 42-14 at Texas Southern last Saturday.
“Obviously, it was a disappointing loss,” Valley first-year coach Vincent Dancy said. “We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds with turnovers and 12 penalties.
“They didn’t do anything to beat us; we beat ourselves.”
Dejerric Bryant and Booker Chambers of Greenwood led the Delta Devils’ offense. Bryant threw for 140 yards and a touchdown and an interception while completing 15 out of his 27 pass attempts. He also rushed for 39 yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts.
Chambers rushed four times for 28 yards, and also led Valley receivers with seven catches for 78 yards. A 24-yard touchdown throw from Bryant to Chambers cut TSU’s lead to 28-14 with 13:15 left to play in the game.
Tracy Thompkins led the Valley defense with eight tackles, including two for loss that totaled 11 yards. Aubrey Powell had the Delta Devils’ lone sack, which took 16 yards away from TSU.
Greenwood’s John Derrick Smith caught three passes for the Delta Devils totaling 32 yards.
TSU scored twice on fumble returns.
The Tigers (2-6, 1-4) led 21-0 at halftime after holding the Delta Devils to three first downs and 100 total yards.
The loss dropped Mississippi Valley State (1-6) to 1-3 in SWAC play. Texas Southern (2-7) improved to 1-3 in conference play.
The Delta Devils return to action Saturday when they visit defending SWAC champion Grambling State. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Grambling (4-4, 3-2) is coming off a 45-38 overtime win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
nContact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
