Trojans rise above Tigers after rain delay in 23-7 win
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com
CANTON--An hour long rain delay may have quashed whatever momentum the Virginia State football team had.
The Trojans didn't mind the rest and relaxation.
After spotting Benedict College an early 7-0 advantage by virtue of a blocked field goal that was recovered for a touchdown by Jesse Bradberry IV in the first quarter, the Trojans defense buckled down the rest of the contest and paced by two touchdowns by running back Jimmyll Williams, Virginia State departed Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium with a 23-7 victory in the sixth annual Black College Hall of Fame Game to formulate a winning start to their 2024 campaign.
What pleased VSU head coach Henry Frazier III was the fact that his defense kept the Benedict offense out of the end zone in virtually pitching a shutout and his team's response after trailing early to begin the contest.
"You're playing against a formidable opponent in Benedict College who went 11-1 back-to-back. I told the team at halftime that they are going to have the heart of a champion so we're going to have to break their will if you want to win this ball game," Frazier said. "I thought they fought down the stretch as it went back and forth. In the end, our defense held and we said if they didn't score again, they would not beat us."
The play of the game unarguably belonged to Williams, the sophomore tailback from Durham, N.C. Taking a hand off, Williams found a gaping crater created by his offensive line and sprinted through the fissure into the open field untouched for an 82-yard touchdown in the second quarter that extended the Trojans lead to 16-7, pretty much salting away the contest at that point. Williams added a nine yard scoring jaunt in the third quarter and finished as the offensive player of the game with 158 yards rushing on 23 carries.
VSU signal caller Romelo Williams completed 13 passes out of 21 attempted without a turnover, his longest completion was a 51-yard touchdown pass to Richmond native Kevin Gayles, who concluded the contest with two catches for 75 yards on the evening.
The Trojans defense were also liable for constructing three turnovers as they twice harried Benedict quarterback Tre Simmons into two interceptions and recovered a fumble in the process. Sophomore defensive tackle Cameron Davis, who had a strip sack and fumble recovery was the defensive player of the game.
Simmons passed for only 68 yards on 11 24 attempts. Jalen Leary was the leading rusher for Benedict with 111 yards on 14 carries, his longest run spanning 47 yards.
The Tigers will have a fecund amount of work ahead of them under the tutelage of first-year head coach Ron Dickerson Jr. if they are going to have another double-digit winning season. Although they are off this upcoming week, the Tigers mentor wants to use the week as a learning tool as his charges look to rise from the canvas of defeat and erect what they hope will be the foundation of another winning season.
An adept way of that will be truncating penalties that short ciruited his team throughout the contest.
"The turning point of the game was that we just hit ourselves in the mouth and we kept getting holding penalties back-to-back and we were starting off so far behind the chains," Dickerson said. "When you have a new team you have so many transfers and freshmen and you have to have understanding how to work through a situation and we never really had to do that. Today was our first day ever with a brand new team and we hurt ourselves. We have to learn from that. When we had those penalties today it hurt us."
An hour long delay may have quashed whatever momentum the Virginia State football team had. They didn't mind the rest and relaxation along with the victory to start the engine on their 2024 season.
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