West Virginia State YellowJackets Win Home Opener

INSTITUTE, West Virginia -- After a strong first half that included bending some but only being broken once the West Virginia State defense stepped things up a notch in the second half picking off three passes leading to three game deciding touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets earned a 33-12 victory in their home opener.

Along the way the sophomore running back duo of Calil Wilkins and Dylan Lucas turned in one of the best performances ever by a pair of WVSU backs.

Those two accounted for 318 yards of total offense and each went over 100 on the ground with Wilkins getting 135 and Lucas 120.

"They are a heckuva a one-two punch," WVSU Head Coach John Pennington said. "We knew we were going to have to run the football to win the game, we figured eventually they would wear down."

Fuastino Saucedo started at quarterback in place of the injured Austin Hensley and turned in a solid performance.

The grad-student transfer from Pace was hot in the opening half hitting 9-of-11 passes for 66 yards. He finished 14-of-18 for 127 yards, a touchdown, and did not throw an interception.

"He did a great job," Pennington said. "That is probably the best pass defense we'll see all year."
The first half saw plenty of ball movement but very little scoring.

The Yellow Jackets picked up 241 yards and the Cavaliers 194 in the first half but WVSU held just a 10-7 lead as both squads struggled to finish drives.

Big plays accounted for all of those points.

Wise took the lead on a 61-yard pass at the 10:46 mark in the first quarter.

The Jackets answered with a 50-yard run by Dylan Lucas at 12:49 of the second period.
Aaron Ball hit a 47-yard field goal 39 seconds before halftime to give WVSU its first lead.
The Cavaliers took the second half kickoff and were driving in Yellow Jacket territory when freshman defensive back Ibrahim Sesay stepped in front of a pass at the WVSU 28 and ran it back 32 yards to the Wise 40.

The Yellow Jackets capitalized a few plays later when Saucedo connected with Wilkins down the left sideline to run the score to 16-7 as the extra point kick missed.

The Jackets held Wise to a 45-yard field goal attempt on the ensuing possession and took over at their own 28 when the kick rebounded backwards off of the crossbar.

On a controversial third down play Suacedo was ruled to have had his forward progress stopped and the play whistled dead just as he broke away from the defense and ran for a substantial gain.

That forced WVSU to punt and the snap sailed over Ball's head and out of the back of the endzone for a safety to move the score to 16-9 with 5:20 left in the third quarter.

The Cavaliers took the free kick and drove to the WVSU seven before being forced to settle for a field goal when the Jackets' defense turned them away.

That pulled the visitors to within 16-12 with 1:40 remaining in the third.

The rest of the day belonged to the Yellow Jackets.

"We just stuck to our game plan," Pennington said. "I was really glad to see the defense have a big game."

WVSU responded midway through the fourth quarter with a 39-yard field goal to move the lead to 19-12.

The Jackets were finally able to take control when Dustin Crouser stepped in front of a Cavalier pass in the right flat at the Wise 29 yard line and ran it back run the score to 26-12.

Another WVSU interception, this one by Tevon Littleton at the Wise 35, led to the game clinching score. Just four runs into the drive freshman Keedrick Cunningham had his first college touchdown on an eight-yard scamper around the left side to stretch the advantage to 33-12 and seal the outcome.
Just for good measure Cunningham later recovered a fumbled punt on the next to last play of the game.

The Yellow Jackets finished with 373 yards of total offense compared to 344. The Jackets were whistled for nine penalties, one negating a touchdown on a kickoff return, for 109 yards.

WVSU travels to Cleveland next weekend to play Notre Dame. The Falcons won 27-17 at Glenville State Saturday after upsetting #16 Shepherd 35-33 at home to open the season.

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