Saint Paul's 17, Virginia State 7

November 3, 2007

From SPC Sports Information

Petersburg, VA: The Tigers of Saint Paul’s College (5-5 Overall, 4-3 CIAA) have done it yet once again. After getting off to 1 win 5 lost start of the season, the Tigers have bounced back to win their fourth consecutive game and fifth win of the season giving them a .500 win percentage on the year. With Coach Willard Bailey at the head of these orange and black jungle animals, the Tigers managed to turn what the people thought was going to be a disappointing season into a feeling of respect and anxiousness for the next season.

Saint Paul’s traveled to Petersburg, VA to take on the Trojans of Virginia State University (4-6 Overall, 3-4 CIAA) in the long time rivalry of the Battle of I-85. This game arises many emotions every meeting and this year was no different. Both teams, which are only separated by a mere 50 miles and less than an hour away from each other, were both fighting to break even on their seasons; and bragging rights for a whole year is always good trophy to play for. This game from the very beginning had the makings of being great.

On the first offensive play of the game for SPC, Coach Bailey went to his bag of tricks running an unusual play trying to catch VSU unexpectedly and the tone of the game was set. After an interception of Trojans quarterback Micheal Terry’s pass by SPC’s Brian Dennis, the Tigers would draw first blood on a 11 play, 55 yard drive capped off by a 22 yard field goal by kicker Nelson Davalos, 3-0.

The second quarter, started with a fumble by Saint Paul’s running back Jermaine Williams, which was recovered by VSU’s Anthony Hailstock at the Virginia State’s 45-yard line recover. Even with pretty good field position, the Trojans did not capitalize on the forced turnover as they were stopped cold in their tracks by the roaring defense of the tigers on 4th down giving the ball right back to the Tigers. Several plays later, the Tigers returned the favor giving the ball back to Trojans on a fumble by Micheal Thornton. This time the Trojans would not let the gift go unappreciated. Virginia State pushed on to score on a 17-yard trick play of their own by Brian Berry leaving the Tigers dazed and confused as to what had just happened and taking the lead 3-7.

With just over a minute left in the second quarter, Chris Spears intercepted his second pass of the day, relinquishing VSU of what little momentum they had just built up from their previous drives. This Tiger spark would be carried on through halftime and into the third quarter as they received the ball on the ensuing kick off. The third quarter was dominated by a Tiger stampede as continuously ran the ball down the field. SPC rushed the ball eighteen consecutive plays down the field before Jermaine Williams scored the touchdown on the next play from 4 yards out. The Tigers time of possession on that one drive alone was 10:14, making the score 10-7.

The fourth quarter would start just as the third did with another Tiger stampede. SPC rushed the entire drive scoring again on rush by Andrew Barlow from 9 yards out, changing the score to what it would stand at in the end 17-7.

The Trojans were a formidable opponent, but they just couldn’t handle the legs of the Tiger running backs. SPC rushed for a total of 371 yards on 68 attempts, averaging 5.5 yards per carry with 24 first downs coming from the ground attack. The Tigers had seven different players carry the ball but they were lead by freshman Jermaine Williams (161 yards, 28 carries) and sophomore Dante Chestnut (114 yards, 20 carries). Once again the ground attack proved effective for the Tigers.

The defense of the SPC was anchored by freshman Jarvis Stokes (12 total tackles, 4 solo, 8 assisted), junior Chris Spears (7 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 interceptions) and junior Brian Dennis (3 tackles, 1 interception). Virginia State was held to 32 yards passing on 9 of 19 completions to attempts and 194 yards of total offense.