CLEVELAND, Miss. - Delta State rolled up 494 yards of total offense, 315 off the arm and legs of quarterback Patrick Shegog, on the way to a 20-7 Gulf South Conference football victory over West Alabama Saturday at McCool Stadium.
Tenth-ranked Delta State kept its perfect record intact at 7-0 overall, 4-0 in GSC play. West Alabama dropped to 4-3 and 2-2.
Shegog rushed for 118 yards on 17 carries and completed 15-of-31 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Statesmen.
"To hold a team like Delta State to 20 points is a big deal," UWA head coach Brett Gilliland said. "They made plays when they needed to and we didn't do enough to win the game and we could have.
"When you play good teams you have to make plays. We had good effort and energy," Gilliland said. "Our backs are against the wall now and I have to coach a lot better than I did tonight. We have to find a way to bounce back."
After the defenses dominated a scoreless first quarter, Delta State opened the scoring with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Shegog to Tremel Withrow. Nick Herber's extra point was good, and the Statesmen led 7-0 with 14:17 left in the second quarter.
A 19-yard field goal by Herber widened the DSU lead to 10-0 with 8:53 left in the half.
An interception by De Mays set up West Alabama's only scoring drive and Tucker Melton capped it by scoring from a yard out to finish an 11-play, 58-yard march that took 4:31 and cut the Statesmen lead to 10-7 with 2:34 left in the half.
Steven White picked off Shegog at the UWA 48 with 48 seconds left in the first half, but the UWA drive stalled, and the second quarter ended with the Statesmen leading 10-7.
Herber's third field goal of the game, this one from 31 yards, stretched the DSU lead to 13-7 with 9:01 left in the third period.
Shegog and Tyler Kennedy hooked up for a 54-yard touchdown pass with 1:07 left in the third quarter to stretch the Statesmen lead to the 20-7 final. With assistance from a muffed punt, Delta State held the football for the last eight-plus minutes of the fourth period to ice the game.
Tiger quarterback Tucker Melton completed 21-of-39 passes for 209 yards while scoring UWA's lone touchdown with his legs. The Tigers had 341 yards of total offense.
"We didn't do enough to win," Melton said. "Our defense played hard, but we just didn't get it done on our side of the ball. We have to keep persevering and stay together."
John Hilbert led UWA receivers with six receptions for 90 yards and Bry Webb rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries. Trey Sullivan dropped five of eight punts inside the DSU 20-yard line.
Davonchae Bryant and Mike Anderson recorded 12 tackles apiece to pace the Tiger defense. Trevon Stanford chipped in 10 stops with three tackles for loss and a broken up pass. Anderson had a tackle for loss and Bryant added a sack and a TFL.
"We came out ready to play," Stanford said. "We have to get each other's backs, execute and not get divided."
Marlon Windham had 12 tackles for Delta State.
West Alabama is host to North Greenville for Homecoming at Tiger Stadium Saturday at 4 p.m. Delta State travels to Shorter for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
