VALDOSTA — After
four-straight fourth quarter losses, the Valdosta State football team is
looking to get back on the winning track tonight when in-state foe Fort Valley
State visits Bazemore-Hyder Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
The Blazers, who last won Oct. 15, 2011 in a 22-21 win over West Alabama, are looking to avoid the school’s first five-game losing streak since 1984-85, when VSU dropped the final four games of the 1984 season and its season opener of the ’85 season, a 17-3 loss to Fort Valley State.
“We’ve had a good week of practice,” Valdosta State head coach David Dean said. “Anytime you play at home, it is exciting. The thing is, we haven’t done anything over at the stadium besides Meet the Blazers. That is a little concerning for me, we haven’t ran around at full-speed. So the first time we will do that is warm-ups. A lot of our guys have been there before, but some guys are doing it for the first time.
“I think they are excited about playing at home, they like sleeping in their own beds,” Dean continued. “I know this, (Fort Valley) is going to bring a good crowd and they are going to bring that band down here and they are going to play. Somehow or another, bands always seem to get kids motivated, so with having two very good bands there, I think you are going to see a lot of excitement in the stadium.”
While the Blazers are looking to rebound and get back on track, the Wildcats are already there, knocking off then-12th-ranked Delta State last weekend in Cleveland, Miss.
Tonight’s meeting will be the first between the Blazers and Wildcats since the 2008 season opener, which featured the Blazers hammering the Wildcats, 56-3.
Valdosta State currently owns an eight-game winning streak against Fort Valley State, winning by an average of 37 points per game. But this is a different Wildcat team coming to Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, one that is looking for a second-straight win over a ranked Gulf South Conference team, a rare accomplishment for teams that compete in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).
“We knew they were going to be a good football team,” said Dean of the Wildcats. “The last couple of the years, they have kind of been in the hunt to make the playoffs. This year, I don’t think is going to be any different. They have a really good football club.”
In their 31-23 win over Delta State last week, the Wildcats scored 22-unanswered points and held the Statesmen to just five total yards of offense in the fourth quarter, the same quarter that has been the Achilles heel to the Blazers during their four-game losing streak.
“The big thing is, they are going to bring six-man pressure on every snap and play man-to-man coverage,” said Dean of FVSU’s defensive scheme. “It is just the matter of what six they are going to bring. They are going to put all 11 guys about five or six yards from the ball and stack the box. It is going to be very difficult to run.
“They are a feast or famine defense. They are going to make a lot of big plays against us, we know that. But what we have to be able to do it hit them with big plays. If we can crease the line, we can make big plays on them. They are big up front and are hard to move and they have good speed on the corner.”
Offensively, the Wildcats received a dominating performance from running back Seth Hill, who finished last week’s game with 144 yards on 17 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Despite the dominating week, Dean says he thinks the Wildcats will throw more this week because of the Blazers’ struggles in stopping the pass against Saginaw Valley State.
“I wouldn’t be surprised, with as much yardage as we gave up throwing the ball last week,” Dean said.
VSU allowed 378 yards passing to Cardinals’ quarterback Jonathan Jennings, along with four touchdowns passes, including the 24-yard game-winner with 1:01 remaining.
Fort Valley State’s quarterback is senior Antonio Henton, a fifth-year senior. Henton, who played for current Valdosta High head coach Rance Gillespie at Peach County High School, completed 19 of 42 passes for 234 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions last week against the Statesmen. Henton is a former Division I quarterback, who enrolled at Ohio State his freshman year, where an arrest sent him to Georgia Southern then to Fort Valley State.
“Henton has a very strong arm and he has good receivers around him,” Dean said.
Sophomore Graham Craig will make his first career start at quarterback for the Blazers, filling in for injured junior Cayden Cochran. Craig played the entire second half of last week’s game against SVSU after Cochran left the game with a separated non-throwing shoulder. Craig completed 12 of 19 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown.
For Craig, nothing has change in his preparations for this week.
“It has been the same thing, just getting the game plan, watching a bunch of film and getting the reps on the field to prepare,” Craig said. “(Fort Valley) has some great athletes on defense. Their defense played real well (against Delta State). We are looking forward to playing against them.”
One of Craig’s top receivers will be junior Gerald Ford, who hauled in a team-high five catches for 69 yards last week. Ford is appearing in his first home game with the Blazers since 2010, and couldn’t be happier about it.
“It is just surreal,” Ford said. “I know it is going to be everything I expect and more. I am just glad to be back. I know it will be great and we will get a great turnout from the crowd.”
The Blazers, who last won Oct. 15, 2011 in a 22-21 win over West Alabama, are looking to avoid the school’s first five-game losing streak since 1984-85, when VSU dropped the final four games of the 1984 season and its season opener of the ’85 season, a 17-3 loss to Fort Valley State.
“We’ve had a good week of practice,” Valdosta State head coach David Dean said. “Anytime you play at home, it is exciting. The thing is, we haven’t done anything over at the stadium besides Meet the Blazers. That is a little concerning for me, we haven’t ran around at full-speed. So the first time we will do that is warm-ups. A lot of our guys have been there before, but some guys are doing it for the first time.
“I think they are excited about playing at home, they like sleeping in their own beds,” Dean continued. “I know this, (Fort Valley) is going to bring a good crowd and they are going to bring that band down here and they are going to play. Somehow or another, bands always seem to get kids motivated, so with having two very good bands there, I think you are going to see a lot of excitement in the stadium.”
While the Blazers are looking to rebound and get back on track, the Wildcats are already there, knocking off then-12th-ranked Delta State last weekend in Cleveland, Miss.
Tonight’s meeting will be the first between the Blazers and Wildcats since the 2008 season opener, which featured the Blazers hammering the Wildcats, 56-3.
Valdosta State currently owns an eight-game winning streak against Fort Valley State, winning by an average of 37 points per game. But this is a different Wildcat team coming to Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, one that is looking for a second-straight win over a ranked Gulf South Conference team, a rare accomplishment for teams that compete in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).
“We knew they were going to be a good football team,” said Dean of the Wildcats. “The last couple of the years, they have kind of been in the hunt to make the playoffs. This year, I don’t think is going to be any different. They have a really good football club.”
In their 31-23 win over Delta State last week, the Wildcats scored 22-unanswered points and held the Statesmen to just five total yards of offense in the fourth quarter, the same quarter that has been the Achilles heel to the Blazers during their four-game losing streak.
“The big thing is, they are going to bring six-man pressure on every snap and play man-to-man coverage,” said Dean of FVSU’s defensive scheme. “It is just the matter of what six they are going to bring. They are going to put all 11 guys about five or six yards from the ball and stack the box. It is going to be very difficult to run.
“They are a feast or famine defense. They are going to make a lot of big plays against us, we know that. But what we have to be able to do it hit them with big plays. If we can crease the line, we can make big plays on them. They are big up front and are hard to move and they have good speed on the corner.”
Offensively, the Wildcats received a dominating performance from running back Seth Hill, who finished last week’s game with 144 yards on 17 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Despite the dominating week, Dean says he thinks the Wildcats will throw more this week because of the Blazers’ struggles in stopping the pass against Saginaw Valley State.
“I wouldn’t be surprised, with as much yardage as we gave up throwing the ball last week,” Dean said.
VSU allowed 378 yards passing to Cardinals’ quarterback Jonathan Jennings, along with four touchdowns passes, including the 24-yard game-winner with 1:01 remaining.
Fort Valley State’s quarterback is senior Antonio Henton, a fifth-year senior. Henton, who played for current Valdosta High head coach Rance Gillespie at Peach County High School, completed 19 of 42 passes for 234 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions last week against the Statesmen. Henton is a former Division I quarterback, who enrolled at Ohio State his freshman year, where an arrest sent him to Georgia Southern then to Fort Valley State.
“Henton has a very strong arm and he has good receivers around him,” Dean said.
Sophomore Graham Craig will make his first career start at quarterback for the Blazers, filling in for injured junior Cayden Cochran. Craig played the entire second half of last week’s game against SVSU after Cochran left the game with a separated non-throwing shoulder. Craig completed 12 of 19 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown.
For Craig, nothing has change in his preparations for this week.
“It has been the same thing, just getting the game plan, watching a bunch of film and getting the reps on the field to prepare,” Craig said. “(Fort Valley) has some great athletes on defense. Their defense played real well (against Delta State). We are looking forward to playing against them.”
One of Craig’s top receivers will be junior Gerald Ford, who hauled in a team-high five catches for 69 yards last week. Ford is appearing in his first home game with the Blazers since 2010, and couldn’t be happier about it.
“It is just surreal,” Ford said. “I know it is going to be everything I expect and more. I am just glad to be back. I know it will be great and we will get a great turnout from the crowd.”
