Kentucky State Sylve, St. Ge combine for 272 yards rushing

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pennsylvania -- The starting backfield of junior running back Brett Sylve and sophomore quarterback Jules St. Ge combined for 272 yards on the ground, but the Kentucky State Thorobreds ran out of gas in falling to Slippery Rock Saturday, 38-31, in non-conference action.

"It was a hot day, we don't have a lot of bodies, and we just wore down," said Kentucky State head coach John L. Smith. "It's called depth. We got through the game with five offensive linemen. I am proud the guys, especially with the travel. We traveled with the right frame of mind. We were focused and intense.

"But you have to also give (Slippery Rock) credit. They are a good football team."

In an offensively explosive game, 10 of the 11 scoring drives lasted under 3:33 minutes. The lone exception was a 13-play, 67-yard KYSU drive that was culminated with a 20-yard field goal that pulled the Thorobreds to within 35-31 in the fourth quarter.

Three plays into the contest, Sylve (Hammond, LA) opened the scoring with a 75-yard scamper. An interception by sophomore Zuriel Rudolph (Birmingham, AL) set-up another KYSU score, this one a five-yard run by St. Ge (Lakeland, FL).

Slippery Rock halved its deficit with a 57-yard pass, but another scoring drive - capped by St. Ge pushed the KYSU lead back to 14. The Rock was threatening for another score, but senior Matthew Bizimana (Louisville, KY) forced a fumble at the goal line and it was recovered by junior David Daniels (Louisville, KY).

Sylve tallied his second score of the game with a one-yard plunge to give Kentucky State a 21-point lead with 4:41 remaining in the half.

BOX SCORE

A late second quarter score by Slippery Rock seemingly pushed the momentum to the hosts, and it showed as The Rock tacked on three more touchdowns to take their first lead of the game, 35-28, with 1:19 remaining in the third quarter.

The home team had an opportunity to take the lead earlier in the quarter, but Daniels forced, recovered and returned a fumble 80 yards to put KYSU in the red zone. It was the second goal line fumble for The Rock. The drive ended with a missed field goal.

Kentucky State drove down to within the Rock seven yardline again and had six attempts to score the equalizing touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. However, KYSU had to settle for the aforementioned 20-yard field goal.

St. Ge was 10-of-12 passing with 118 yards and one interception to go along with his 126 yards on 11 rushing attempts. He added two rushing touchdowns. His 10 completions went to five different receivers with junior Jordan Level (Detroit, MI) and junior Malik Saunders (Louisville, KY) hauling in three receptions apiece. Level finished with a team-high 45 receiving yards, and Saunders added 41 yards.

Sylve toted the rock 20 times for a team-high 146 yards with two touchdowns.

Junior Myrthel Stewart (Glenwood, IL) led the Thorobreds defensively with eight tackles, while sophomore Antwoine Lloyd (Indianapolis, IN) and Rudolph had seven tackles each.

Kentucky State (0-1) makes its home debut 4 p.m. Saturday, hosting McKendree at Alumni Stadium. The Bearcats opened their season with a 34-28 victory over Northern Michigan.

KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY THOROBREDS SPORTS INFORMATION