VALDOSTA -– The Valdosta State defense forced Albany State into five turnovers, three of which the Blazer offense turned into touchdowns, as VSU defeated the Golden Rams 38-10 at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium Saturday evening.
In the season opener for both teams, Valdosta State’s Black Swarm defense played havoc with the Albany State offense all night as the Blazers recovered four fumbles and came away with an Isaiah Gresham interception. ASU fumbled the ball seven times on the evening, five of which came when a VSU player stripped the ball away from a Golden Ram.
Valdosta State opened the scoring in on its third possession of the game when it put together a 17-play, 54-yard drive that took 6:19 off of the clock. However, the Blazer drive stalled short of the goal line, but Anthony Pistelli kicked a career-long 45-yard field goal to put VSU in front 3-0.
Gresham’s interception set up the Blazers’ next score as he picked off a Frank Rivers’ pass on the VSU 43 to give Valdosta State the ball near midfield. Jake Medlock proceeded to complete all four of his passes on the ensuing drive, for 39 yards, and picked up four yards on a scramble to march the Blazers down the field. VSU found the endzone on the eighth play of the drive when Medlock hooked up with Roshmel Young from 13 yards out to put VSU in front 10-0.
Valdosta State pushed its lead to 17-0 just over a minute before the halftime break when Medlock scored on a four-yard run to cap off a 10-play, 69-yard drive. VSU kept the ball on the ground for much of the drive as it registered seven runs for 42 yards, including four carries for 33 yards by Cedric O’Neal.
After recovering two fumbles and coming away with the interception in the first half, Valdosta State opened the second half by recovering its third Albany State fumble of the game whenTevin Davis sacked Rivers at the ASU 18 yard line, jarring the ball loose in the process. Cooper Lemonds eventually fell on the ball on the ASU 12 and two plays later Austin Scott ran in from eight yards out to give Valdosta State a 24-0 lead.
Albany State responded with a 12-play, 68-yard drive that culminated in 26-yard field goal by Zachary Gayden-Holly, but Blazer Rodney Hunter stripped ASU’s Phillip Moore of the ball just before the end of the third quarter, and, six plays later, Medlock found Shane Henderson for an eight-yard scoring strike to push the Blazer lead to 31-3.
The Golden Rams got their only touchdown of the evening on the next drive as they marched 75 yards on 12 plays to score on a Rivers-to-Jessie Atkins touchdown pass, but Vincent Dallasfielded the ensuing kickoff on his own 15 yard line and raced untouched for an 85-yard touchdown off the kickoff return to close out the scoring.
Medlock completed 13-of-24 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns on the evening while also carrying the ball 14 times for 48 yards. O’Neal led the VSU rushing attack with 64 yards on 14 carries while Justin Williams tallied a team-high seven tackles. Davis had four solo tackles and two of the forced fumbles for the VSU defense while Sharmaine Washington registered six tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Valdosta State tallied 328 yards of total offense, including 188 rushing and 140 through the air. Meanwhile, Albany State was limited to just 206 yards of total offense, including 39 on the ground and 167 through the air.
Rivers completed 20-of-35 passes on the evening and also ran for a team-best 19 yards.
Valdosta State returns to action next Saturday, September 13 at 4:00 p.m. when it faces off against Winston-Salem State in the “Cobb County Clash.” The game will be played in Cantrell Stadium at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Ga. and features a rematch of the 2012 NCAA Division II National Championship game that the Blazers won 35-7.
