ITTA BENA, Miss. (Interstat) — Jared Lockhart passed for two touchdowns and Jackson State’s defense delivered a dominant performance, holding Mississippi Valley State to just a field goal in a 42-3 rout on Saturday at Rice-Totten Stadium.

The Tigers improved to 7-2 overall, while the Delta Devils fell to 1-8.

Lockhart, a 6-foot-5 quarterback from Charlotte, North Carolina, efficiently directed the Jackson State offense, completing 21 of 27 passes for 241 yards and adding 23 yards on the ground. His primary target was Nate Rembert, who hauled in six catches for 97 yards and both of Lockhart’s touchdown passes.

The game was never in doubt as Jackson State scored on its opening drive, a methodical march capped by a 2-yard touchdown run from Donerio Davenport. The Tigers added two more scores in the second quarter to take a commanding 21-0 lead. Travis Terrell Jr. punched in a 4-yard run, and Lockhart connected with Rembert for a 9-yard score just 20 seconds before halftime.

Mississippi Valley State managed to avoid a first-half shutout with a 42-yard field goal from Marko Jovisic as time expired in the second quarter, making the score 21-3 at the break.

Any hope of a Delta Devils comeback was extinguished quickly in the third quarter. Jackson State needed just over three minutes to find the end zone again, with Lockhart hitting Rembert for a 14-yard score. The Tigers’ defense then provided the exclamation point when Mike Smith III intercepted a Brandon Nunez pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 35-3.

Jackson State’s final score came on a 22-yard run by Ja’Naylon Dupree in the fourth quarter, cementing the lopsided victory.

The Tigers’ ground game was a workhorse, with Ahmad Miller leading the way by grinding out 87 yards on 19 carries. Terrell Jr. added 56 yards and a touchdown, while Dupree contributed 58 receiving yards and 22 rushing yards with a score.

For Mississippi Valley State, the offense struggled to sustain drives. Quarterback Brandon Nunez, from Phoenix, Arizona, completed 15 of 34 passes for 126 yards and was under constant pressure, being sacked multiple times. Christian White was a bright spot for the Delta Devils, catching three passes for 51 yards. The running game was stifled, managing just 60 net yards as a team.

The Jackson State defense was relentless, forcing a fumble and an interception while consistently putting the Delta Devils in unfavorable down-and-distance situations. Punter Marko Dubak was one of Mississippi Valley State’s busiest players, booting the ball eight times for 404 yards.

The victory keeps Jackson State in the hunt near the top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings as the season enters its final weeks. The Tigers will look to continue their momentum when they host Bethune-Cookman next Saturday.

Mississippi Valley State, still searching for its first conference win, will host Alabama State next Saturday.

The final score matched the projection from Interstat’s game simulator, though the defensive performance far exceeded expectations, as the simulator had projected 25 points for the Delta Devils. Jackson State entered the game as an overwhelming favorite, with Interstat’s ELO system giving the Tigers a 97.80 percent probability to win.