The Blazers of Valdosta State came out strong in the first quarter and didn’t let up in their 55-6 lambasting of Fort Valley State in the Okefenokee Classic. Valdosta State scored touchdowns in three of their first four possessions to take a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.
From vstateblazers.com:
The Blazers marched right down the field using a five play, 69-yard drive as sophomore quarterback Rogan Wells found senior fullback Stewart Spence for 43 yards and, on third and five from the 26, Wells hooked up with junior Darrell Myers over the middle for a 26-yard strike and a 7-0 lead.
The VSU defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive as a huge 12-yard sack from freshman Jameon Gaskin and a sack from senior Iseoluwapo Jegede forced the Wildcats to punt.
Following punts by both teams, the Blazers made quick work offensively again as Robles hooked up with sophomore Brian Saunds for a 13-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead with 7:34 left in the first quarter.
Following a three-and-out by the Wildcats, VSU turned a third and 20 into a first down at the goal line as Wells found junior Bryndan McCoy for 28 yards. Wells tallied his third passing touchdown of the quarter as he hit sophomore Kenny Benjamin out of the slot for a 21-0 lead with 3:04 left in the quarter.
The Blazers tallied the first turnover of the game as FVSU quarterback Slade Jarman was intercepted by redshirt freshman Taurus Dotson, but the Blazers were unable to score on a 34-yard missed field goal from senior Andrew Gray early in the second quarter.
FVSU used a long drive of 16 plays for 75 yards, using 8:20 on the clock and kicked a 22-yard field goal as Jarman couldn’t find a man in the end zone on third down from the five of VSU.
VSU moved at will in the next drive, but Gray missed his second field goal of the quarter from 40-yards.
In the third, the Wildcats had a promising drive to begin the frame, but stalled at the VSU 16 as Jarman’s pass sailed wide on third down.
VSU’s senior Rori Blair then blocked the 33-yard field goal by Abisai Gutierrez.
The Blazers took over and marched down the field for a 26-yard field goal from Gray and a 24-3 lead.
FVSU answered with a field goal on the ensuing drive for a 24-6 score and Gray tallied another field goal from 24-yards for a 27-6 score at the end of three quarters.
The Blazer offense found new life in the fourth as the team used an eight play, 50-yard drive for 3:05 on the clock as Wells found senior Stewart Spence for his first career touchdown and a 34-6 lead.
The Wildcats muffed the punt on the ensuing drive as VSU took over at the FVSU eight and freshman Seth McGill scored his first touchdown of his career and a 41-6 lead with 8:59 left.
VSU freshman quarterback Ivory Durham entered after a FVSU punt and rattled off a quick 40-yard run and scored from nine yards out for a 48-6 lead.
The Blazer added one more touchdown late in the game for a 55-6 score as redshirt sophomore Isaiah Johnson scored on the ground from 14-yards out.
The Wildcats were held to just 153 yards of total offense and just 14 first downs, despite possessing the football for 35:12 to 24:48 for VSU, while the Blazers rolled up 537 yards and 31 first downs.
Fort Valley opens up SIAC Conference play on the road next Saturday as they travel to Birmingham to take on Miles College. Kickoff time is 6 p.m. Valdosta State also will be hitting the road next week as they kick off Gulf South Conference play against nationally ranked West Alabama at 7p.m. EST.
