Box Score FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky State football team lost a hard-fought game to the Virginia State University Trojans, 16-13, on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
 
Kentucky State falls to 1-2 overall as it finishes its non-conference schedule. VSU picks up its first win of the season to move to 1-2.
 
The Trojans got on the scoreboard first when quarterback Tarian Ayres found Jaiv Smallwood for a 54-yard touchdown pass just over a minute into the game. After a failed extra-point attempt by kicker Matt Hillquist, VSU led 6-0.
 
After the Trojans' quick score, it looked as though VSU would have its way on Saturday, but the Kentucky State defense quickly adopted a bend-but-don't-break approach. A stale offensive attack from Kentucky State and missed opportunities from VSU kept either team from scoring for the rest of the opening half.
 
At halftime, the Thorobred offense had mustered just 51 total yards and a pair of first downs. In the second half, KSU began executing much more efficiently and was able to finish the game with 255 offensive yards and 12 first downs.
 
"It wasn't that we called different plays, we just executed in the second half," Head Coach Josh Dean said about his halftime adjustments.
 
Virginia State struck first in the second half when, after the Trojans' opening drive stalled out, Hillquist connected on a 23-yard field goal, extending the VSU lead to 9-0.
 
With less than two minutes left in the third quarter, speedy KSU running back Justin Williams finally broke loose for a big 60-yard rush to put the Thorobreds in the red zone for the first time. That set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Williams' running mate Jacquise Lockett with just 14 seconds left in the third quarter, cutting the Trojans' lead to two, 9-7.
 
After getting the ball back, Virginia State marched down the field and answered with a rushing touchdown of its own. Trey Johnson finished off a 20-yard rush with a touchdown to push the VSU lead back to nine, with a 16-7 advantage.
 
With just over 12 minutes left on the game clock, Kentucky State put together a 16-play drive, which ended with Adam Robinson connecting with Clayton Patton in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown to pull the Thorobreds to within three points, trailing 16-13 after a failed point-after attempt.
 
After a quick 3-and-out, Virginia State punted the ball to Kentucky State, which took over on its own 35-yard line with 3:14 left in the game and a chance to tie or pull off a winning drive.
 
After a seven-yard pass from Robinson to Williams was nullified by a false-start penalty, Robinson went right back to Williams, this time for a 10-yard completion to set up a first-and-10 at the KSU 37-yard line.
 
On the next play, Virginia State got a huge play for linebacker Lyndon Thomas, who sacked Robinson for a huge 7-yard loss.
 
After a few pass completions, KSU was faced with a fourth-and-3 at the Virginia State 46-yard line with 1:30 left on the clock. A false start by freshman wide receiver Lavelle Cloyd pushed the Thorobreds back 5 yards to set up a tough fourth-and-8. Robinson took a shot downfield to a streaking James Happy, who got tangled up with his defender as both players tumbled to the field as the ball landed incomplete, ending the Thorobreds' chances at a comeback.
 
VSU lined up in the victory formation and ran out the clock to secure the 16-13 victory.
 
"You can take away both positives and negatives from a game like this," Coach Dean said. "When we get it right, we're a very tough team to compete with. We just need to cut down on penalties and be more consistent in all phases of the game."
 
Next up for Kentucky State is a road trip to Stillman College on Sept. 27 with kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m. (CT).