Despite putting up its best overall performance of the 2021 season, Dixie State came up just short of its first win in a hard-fought 17-10 loss at Delaware on Saturday afternoon at Delaware Stadium. 

After giving up a touchdown on the Blue Hens' (4-4) opening drive, the Trailblazers were on the march for a possible score of their own. 
 
Thanks to a clutch 3-yard run by Drew Kannely-Robles on fourth down, followed by an 18-yard Koby Tracy to Rickie Johnson connection, DSU found itself just outside of the UDel red zone. However the drive would be thwarted two plays later when Tracy was intercepted at the Blue Hen 8-yard line by Andrew Pawlowski. 

Both sides exchanged punts through the remainder of the first period before Delaware took its initial possession of the second quarter 41 yards in four plays to the DSU 7-yard line. But this time it would be the Trailblazer defense that would come up with the big turnover as safety Tyrell Grayson forced a Gene Coleman II fumble at the 5-yard line, and Colby Williams pounced on the loose ball. 

It remained a one-score game until the 2:47 mark when Blue Hen running back Dejoun Lee capped a 7-play, 81-yard run with a 1-yard dive to give Delaware a 14-0 cushion. 
 
The Trailblazers (0-8) answered back with a touchdown of their own on their very next possession when Tracy found Michael Moten for a 20-yard strike, which cut the deficit in half at 14-7 with 1:04 to play in the half. Tracy threw for 54 yards on the scoring drive, which was also aided by a Blue Hen pass interference call. 

Delaware then struck for the final points of the half when Ryan Coe nailed a 43-yard field goal at the horn to take a 17-7 lead into the intermission.
 
Dixie State came out of the locker room and struck quickly for its biggest play of the day. Tracy hit Kannely-Robles with a short pass, and the senior back did the rest by weaving through the Blue Hen defense for 58 yards down to the Delaware 25. 

Unfortunately for the Blazers, the promising drive stalled three plays later and DSU had to settle for a Connor Brooksby 33-yard field goal that made it a 17-10 game.
 
After giving up just over 300 yards in the first half, the Trailblazer defense played lights outs in the second 30 minutes, holding Delaware scoreless while surrendering just 38 total yards in the third quarter and 68 yards overall after halftime.  

The defense also forced its second turnover of the day late in the third when Jayden Sheridan stripped the ball away UDel receiver Thyrick Pitts at the DSU 15-yard line. Sam Kanongata'a recovered the fumble as the Blazers again turned away another Blue Hen scoring threat. 

Dixie State had its chances to tie the game in the fourth, but a bad snap with Tracy in the shot gun derailed one promising drive and led to a Blazer punt.

Then after the Trailblazer defense held on 4^th and 1 at the DSU 34 with 1:16 remaining, DSU took advantage of two costly Delaware penalties and pair of Tracy completions to get to the Blue Hen 32 yard line with :08 seconds left. Time enough for one more play, Tracy took the snap, bought some time and let fly an attempt that fell incomplete as the clock hit zeroes. 

Tracy threw for a career-high 314 yards on 29-of-39 passing to go with his touchdown. A week after recording his first career 100-yard rushing game, Kannely-Robles eclipsed the century mark in receiving as he hauled in six passes for a career-best 112 yards. Meanwhile Moten finished just one-yard shy of the triple digits as he racked up 99 receiving yards on six catches to go with his second TD grab in as many games. 

Dixie State finished with 310 yards of total offense, though the Blazers were held to minus-4 yards rushing after two Delaware sacks and 20 lost yards on the costly bad snap in the fourth quarter. 

Grayson collected a team-high 12 tackles (7 solo) to complement his forced fumble to lead the Blazer defense, while Malaki Malaki tallied 11 tackles. 

Dixie State will close out its 2021 road slate at defending 2020-21 FCS champion and No. 1-ranked Sam Houston next Saturday in Huntsville, Texas. Kick-off is slated for 12 noon (CT).