UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. — It happened again.
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| Austin Scott shakes a tackler. (Bubba Thomas | Special) |
After three-straight final-minute losses to closeout the
2011 season, the Valdosta State football team lost another heartbreaker
Saturday to open their 2012 season.
The Blazers allowed a game-winning 27-yard touchdown pass
from Saginaw Valley State quarterback Jonathon Jennings to Michael Albrecht
with 1:01 remaining to fall to the Cardinals, 28-24.
The loss is the fourth straight for Valdosta State, dating
back to the end of last season. All four game-winning touchdowns scored by the
opposing teams came with a combined 2 minutes and 43 seconds remaining in the
fourth quarter. Saturday’s 1:01 was the largest margin of time remaining in a
game.
“We are pretty frustrated right now, because we worked
hard,” said linebacker Chris Pope, who led the Blazers with 16 total tackles.
“This isn’t where we intended to be, but I promise we will be back.”
VSU’s four-game losing streak is the longest since the 1990
season, when the Blazers dropped the final four games of the regular season to
finish with a 5-5 record.
“There is tremendous amount of disappointment,” Valdosta
State head coach David Dean said. “Everybody is kind of in shock, ‘how could
this happen again?’ But the real leadership, I think you’ll find on the rest of
this trip home and (Sunday) when we get back together and watch film and get in
the weight room and start preparing for Fort Valley State.”
Following Saginaw Valley’s go-ahead touchdown with 1:01
remaining, the Blazers had a final chance, but fell short. A solid kickoff
return by Matt Pierce positioned the Blazers at the 46-yard line. A 19-yard pass
from quarterback Graham Craig, who entered the game in the third quarter for
starter Cayden Cochran, to Gerald Ford put the Blazers down to the Cardinal 35.
Then Craig was sacked, followed by an overthrown pass to
Ford, setting up a third and 15 for the Blazers, which was nearly intercepted
by a Cardinal defender. On the Blazers’ final
chance, a fourth and 15, Craig’s pass went threw the outstretched arms of
Regginald Lewis in the end zone.
Game over. Blazers
lose, again.
The Cardinal’s game-winning drive almost didn’t happened.
With VSU leading 24-21 and with time ticking off the clock, the Blazers
regained possession of the ball off a Tyler Josey interception, and started a
march down the field to hopefully ice the game.
After back-to-back first downs, the offense faced a third
down and 10. Craig rolled around and took off for the first down marker,
sliding just inches short. With the ball just inside Saginaw territory, Dean
elected to take a five-yard delay of game penalty and punt the ball to the
Cardinals.
That was followed by Jennings’ game-winning 11-play, 80-yard
drive, which includes a completion on fourth down and 10, that ended in the
27-yard connection with Albrecht.
“It’s very frustrating,” Dean said. “You put yourself in a
position to win, and we can’t make a play at the end of the game. If we get a
first down there, we have an excellent play with the draw, (Craig) falls down a
half-yard short lunging to get the first down. And we just can’t make a stop on
fourth down there late.”
Jennings finished the game 37 of 56 for 378 yards with four
touchdowns. He was also intercepted three times by the Blazer defense. Junior
Jeff Janis hauled in 14 catches for 167 yards with three scores.
“They are a good tandem,” Pope said. “You can tell they
practice a lot together. (Jennings) made a few good plays…We just have to
finish. That is all we can do.”
For Valdosta State, Cochran started the game at quarterback,
completing 8 of 16 passes for 66 yards. He was pulled at halftime after it was
discovered late in the first half that he separated his non-throwing shoulder
diving into the end zone for the Blazers’ first touchdown of the game — a
24-yard run that put VSU out front, 7-0.
Craig completed 12 of 19 passes for 183 yards with a score
in relief.
“Cayden separated his shoulder,” Dean said. “He couldn’t
play. That is the only thing we could do. I felt bad for Cayden. He wanted to
play. He couldn’t do. He hurt it on the touchdown. He kept playing, kept
fighting. He couldn’t squeeze that ball.”
“I knew I was going in the second half,” Craig said. “We ran
the system well. I got the ball in playmakers’ hands, the offensive line
blocked well. I don’t really know much. I know Cayden was hurting a little
bit.”
The Blazers opened the scoring on their second offensive
possession of the day when Cochran scampered into the end zone his 24-yard run,
flipping into the air as he broke the plane and separating his shoulder in the
process.
A few series later, Saginaw Valley found the end zone on a
2-yard touchdown pass from Jennings to Janis that was setup by a Cochran fumble
in Blazer territory.
Valdosta State regained the lead with a 4-yard touchdown run
by freshman back Austin Scott late in the second quarter. The scoring play was
setup by a Pope fumble recovery deep inside Saginaw Valley territory.
Scott finished the game with 103 yards rushing on 18 carries
with his score.
With less than a minute remaining in the first half, and
with no timeouts, the Cardinals evened the score with an impressive 6-play,
61-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with a 22-yard pass from Jennings
to Janis.
Saginaw Valley took its first lead of the game with a
six-play, 60-yard drive, capped off by a 24-yard touchdown by from Jennings to
Janis, making the score 21-14.
The Cardinals’ lead lasted just 33 seconds, as Craig found
Seantavious Jones for a 70-yard touchdown pass that knotted the score even at
21-21.
After a Cardinal punt, the Blazers regained the lead with a
32-yard field goal by Daniel Andersen.
On the night, VSU’s defense forced four turnovers (three
interceptions and fumble). Matt Pierce, Ryan Smith and Josey each had
interceptions, while Pope recovered the lone fumble that setup Scott’s
touchdown run.
Valdosta State’s offense came out with a quick start. Scott moved the Blazers across the 50-yard
line on the first play with a 35-yard rush. A few passes from Cochran to Ford
and VSU was 70 yards down the field and into the red zone, where a sack and an
overthrown pass forced the Blazers to settle for a 27-yard field that was
pushed left by Daniel Andersen.
Following Cochran’s touchdown run on the second offensive
possession, the Blazer offense stalled for the remainder of the first half,
turning over possession on downs inside Cardinal territory, punting three times
and turning the ball over on Cochran’s fumble that led to the Cardinals’ first
score of the night.
The Blazer offense seemed rejuvenated in the second half
under Craig’s leadership at quarterback. Craig led the Blazers to scores on two
of their first three drives in the second half, including his 70-yard pass
connection with Jones.
“I was excited for sure,” said Craig of his touchdown pass. “I
was fired up.”
