Blazers to make appearance in fourth national championship game; faces Winston-Salem State University Rams, CIAA Champions.
MANKATO, Minnesota – Valdosta State compiled 498 yards of
offense as the Blazers defeated Minnesota State-Mankato at Blakeslee Stadium in
the NCAA Division II National Semifinals Saturday afternoon.
With the
win, the Blazers improved to 11-2 and advances to next week's NCAA Division II
National Championship game at Braly Stadium in Florence, Ala. Minnesota
State-Mankato ends its season at 13-1.
The 498 yards by VSU marked the
most given up by MSU on the season, which entered the game as the No. 3 defense
in the nation in total yardage as it allowed just 267.7 per game. The game comes
just two weeks after Valdosta State tallied 525 yards in the second round of the
Division II playoffs against West Alabama, which was the fifth-ranked defense in
the nation at the time.
The game marked Valdosta State's fourth trip to
the national semifinals and the fourth time that the Blazers have advanced to
the national championship game.
Minnesota State-Mankato dominated the
first quarter of play as it held the ball for a little over 11 out of the first
15 minutes of play. Valdosta State ran just seven plays during the frame and
managed just 36 yards. Meanwhile, the Mavericks ran 22 plays for 118 yards while
taking a 3-0 lead. Sam Brockshus scored the only points of the quarter as, on
the second MSU possession of the game, he capped off a 14-play drive with a
29-yard field goal.
Minnesota State-Mankato pushed its advantage to 10-0
less than three minutes into the second quarter when Adam Thielen caught a
17-yard pass, before Valdosta State got back in the game with a pair of long
drives.
After falling behind 10-0, Valdosta State marched 82 yards on 10
plays to score on an eight-yard catch by Gerald Ford. The
big play on the drive came when Cayden Cochran
found Seantavious Jones for a 39-yard gain to the MSU
12. Two plays later, Cochran, who completed four-of-six passes on the drive,
found Ford across the middle to cut the VSU deficit to 10-7 with 8:20 to go in
the second quarter.
VSU forced a punt, which was downed on the VSU
three, on the next Maverick drive and took over on marched 97 yards to take the
lead. Austin Scott opened the drive with a 28-yard run
while three plays later Cochran and Ford hooked up for a 22-yard gain. A Regginald Lewis 25-yard catch moved the ball to the MSU
12 before Cochran found Seantavious Jones
in the right corner of the end zone to put VSU ahead 14-7.
After having
a ball go off the fingers of a leaping Ford in the end zone to end the first
half, Valdosta State pushed its advantage to 21-10 on the first drive of the
second half. The Blazers took the opening drive 75 yards on 13 plays. Lewis got
the Blazers into scoring position when he caught a screen pass, used his hand to
keep his balance while spinning out of a tackle and ran 34 yards to the MSU 5.
On the next play, Cochran ran a quarterback keeper up the middle for the
score.
MSU marched 51 yards for a 39-yard Brockshus field goal on its
ensuing drive, only to have the Blazers respond with Cochran's second rushing
touchdown on the next drive to put VSU in front 28-13 with 14:40 to play in the
game.
The Mavericks quickly answered the score as Andy Pfeiffer scored
on a one-yard run just over three minutes later. However, the extra point was
missed, as was a field goal on the ensuing MSU drive to give the Blazers a 28-19
lead with just over three minutes to play.
The Blazers closed out the
scoring with 24 seconds remaining when Austin Scott took a
hand-off around right end and raced 31 yards for a touchdown.
Scott ran
for 158 yards, leaving him eight yards shy of 1,000 on the year. Cochran added
40 yards rushing while completing 16-of-28 passes for 278 yards. Jones caught
four passes for 122 yards while Ford had eight catches for 76 yards, giving him
1,020 yards on the season.
Jeremy Grable led
the Valdosta State defense with 12 tackles, including 10 in the first half,
while Chris Pope had 10.
Minnesota
State-Mankato registered 436 yards of offense, much of which came from
quarterback Jon Wolf, who ran for 127 yards while completing 11-of-24 passes for
195 more. The Mavericks tallied 241 rushing yards and 195 through the
air.
Tickets for next weekend's national championship game will be on
sale in the Valdosta State Athletic Offices in The Complex beginning at 8:30
a.m. Monday morning. All tickets to the event are for reserved seating and cost
$25. Valdosta State has an allotment of 1,000 tickets behind its bench while
additional tickets on the VSU side of the field can be purchased at www.d2championship.com or at www.ncaa.com.
Box
Score
COURTESY VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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