SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts The American International College Football team returned home on Saturday, September 28 as they took on Southern Connecticut State University in Northeast-10 Conference play. The Yellow Jackets held off a late Owl push to take the game 19-13.



FAST FACTS:
FINAL SCORE:AIC 19, SCSU 13
RECORDS:AIC is now 2-2 overall and 1-1 in NE10 play, while SCSU moves to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in NE10 play
LOCATION:Abdow Field Springfield, Mass.

STAT LEADERS:
AIC Offense:Jayson DeMild(73 yards passing, four completions, two passing touchdowns),Prince Olubakinda (four completions, 57 yards passing, one passing touchdown), Samad Davila(48 yards rushing, 22 receiving yards),Kequan Jamison(33 yards receiving, one touchdown), Kyle Boyer-Tucker (one catch, 11 receiving yards, one touchdown), Jonas Espinal (one catch, 11 receiving yards, one touchdown)


AIC Defense:Jaysen Thompson(nine tackles, five assisted, four solo, one interception)Cyriacus Ibezim(10 tackles, five solo, five assisted, one pass breakup,)Jacquese Johnson(eight tackles, six solo, two assisted, one tackle for a loss), Isiah Tolbert (eight tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss of 12 yards, one interception with a 30-yard return)


SCSU Offense:Jackson Ostrowsky (27 completions, 282 passing yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, two sacks, 23 rushing yards) Julian Chung (127 receiving yards), Brandon Swan-Price (four receptions, 39 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns)


SCSU Defense:Rich Souffrant (eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss) Mekhi Barnett (four tackles, one tackle for a loss, two pass breakups, one quarterback rush)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• For the first time this season, the Yellow Jackets won the coin toss and then deferred to the second half. On the first Owl drive of the game, junior linebacker Jaysen Thompsen picked off the Owl's quarterback. The Yellow Jackets were not able to convert the takeaway to points as the Owls' defense forced a three-and-out.
• With just under five and a half minutes left in the first quarter, junior defensive lineman Isiah Tolbert grabbed an SCSU tipped pass and returned it to the Owls' 15-yard line and gave AIC the ball in the red zone. It only took three plays for redshirt-sophomore quarterback Prince Olubakinda to find graduate student wide receiver Kyle Boyer-Tucker for the 11-yard touchdown. The point after was no good.
• The Owls answered with a drive of their own. Their drive lasted almost five minutes as they went 75-yards on 10 plays and tied the game up at six. After 30 minutes of play, AIC and SCSU were tied at six.
• On their second drive of the half, the Yellow Jackets' offense started hitting their stride. On 3^rd-and-15, redshirt-sophomore quarterback Jayson DeMild found sophomore wide receiver Jonas Espinal for a 53-yard completion that brought the ball down to the seven-yard line. On the very next play, DeMild connected with freshman wide receiver Kequan Jamison on a nice pass over the top to give AIC the 13-6 lead.
• The Owls had the ball on the AIC 33 when Tolbert forced a fumble on a blindside hit that allowed redshirt-freshman defensive end Ahmad Rabah to scoop the loose ball up and return it to the SCSU 12, a 42-yard run.
• The Yellow Jackets' offense looked to take advantage of the great field position their defense gave them. It was not looking good as the offense lined up at the line on 4^th-and-3 from the SCSU 14. DeMild dropped back to pass and slung it towards redshirt-junior Samad Davila. The pass fell incomplete, flags flew, and pass interference was called that allowed the Yellow Jackets to reset their downs at the SCSU six-yard line. After an AIC false start, DeMild found Espinal for the 11-yard touchdown and grew the AIC lead to 13, 19-6.
• Southern Connecticut did not back down quietly as on their next drive; they went 77-yards in 10 plays to make it a one-possession game 19-13 with under a minute left in the third frame.
• The Yellow Jackets had the possession with 2:53 remaining in the game as they looked to take the air out of the ball and run some time off the clock. The first two plays were rushes by Davila that went for 13-yards then 3-yards that forced the Owls to call a timeout to stop the clock. Southern Connecticut called another timeout after another AIC rush. Out of the break, the Yellow Jackets were called for a false start which pushed the ball back to the AIC 23-yard line. On 3^rd-and-13, AIC put the ball in the air, but the pass fell to the ground.
• With their back against the back of the end zone, AIC rushed a punt that was downed at the SCSU 42. With a 2^nd -and-10 at the AIC 24, an SCSU receiver drew a pass interference penalty from AIC and moved the ball to the AIC 10. On 3^rd-and-goal, Southern Connecticut connected for a nine-yard pass to make it 4^th-and-goal from the AIC half-yard line with 12 seconds left. The Yellow Jackets called a timeout to talk about their plan of attack. The box was packed by players from both sides as the Owls attempted a rush up the middle to find the end zone. The Yellow Jackets' defense stuffed the attempt and forced a turnover on downs. The pressure was not over as AIC had the ball on their own half-yard line with eight ticks left. DeMild took two snaps and threw the ball high and out of bounds both times to secure the 19-13 win.

NEXT UP:

• The Yellow Jackets will travel to Easton, Mass. to take on Stonehill College at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 5.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC football team, follow @AICfootball on Twitter and like AIC Football on Facebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow @AICAthletics on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Yellow Jackets on Facebook.