Stats
MONTGOMERY—Devin Dominguez made his first start at quarterback for the Hornets a memorable one completing 20 of his 29 passes for 261 yards and three scores to lead Alabama State University to a season-opening 34-6 win over Mississippi Valley State University.
It did not take long for ASU to show their offense was clicking as ASU took the opening kick right down the field only to see the drive stall after a MVSU sack and a missed 40 yard field goal.
After the Hornets defense forced a three and out, the Hornets offense again went right down the field and this time cashed in on Dominguez' first TD pass of the evening, a 27 yard pass to T.C. McWilliams. The drive covered 61 yards and only took four plays.
The first quarter ended with ASU holding the 7-0 lead, but also the offense showed its ball control by holding the ball for 13:18 of the first quarter.
The second score for ASU came after Kejuan Riley picked off a Carl Davis pass on the MVSU 31-yard line and the Hornets took advantage of the short field with Dominguez finishing off the drive with another touchdown pass to McWilliams, this one again from 27 yards out.
ASU went on to lead 24-3 at halftime and an Andrew Lyons 35-yard field goal and Dominguez' third TD pass of the half, this one to Nick Andrews and it covered 21 yards.
MVSU avoided the first half shutout with a 40-yard field goal with only two seconds left in the half.
The Delta Devils came out and took its opening drive right down the field and cut the lead to 24-6 with another Carlos Sanchez field goal. This one came from 43yards out.
ASU answered right back and drove down the field and finished the drive with a 35-yard field goal from Lyons with six minutes left in the third quarter.
ASU completed the scoring on an Andrew Pitts seven yard run with 11 minutes left in the game. Pitts finished the game with a game-high 77 yards on 12 carries.
In all, the ASU offense had 493 total yards including 285 yards through the air and 208 yards rushing.
“Our offense did a lot of nice things,” Head Coach Reggie Barlow said. “Devin has all the intangibles in leading an offense. We really made an effort to give him the opportunity to play quarterback this year and tonight he did a good job.”
T.C. McWilliams also had a big game for the Hornets catching the ball. He finished the game with 142 yards on seven receptions to go along with his two scores.
“We knew T.C. could play,” Barlow said. “He is a walk on and has worked hard. He takes just about every play during practice and just loves to play the game.”
Even though the offense had a big game, the defense was not that bad either. The Hornets smothered MVSU, only allowing 147 total yards, only 61 yards rushing.
The defense also forced two turnovers, one was Riley's first quarter interception and another was second-quarter Jakari Wilcoxson fumble recovery. Both turnovers were turned into touchdowns.
The Hornets played a lot of players on defense in the first game, with the tackles spread out among several players. Demarque Taylor led the Hornets with five tackles including a sack. Le”Andre Crawford had four tackles with several players finishing the game with three stops.
Next week the Hornets will host the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 7 p.m.
-Hornets-
