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October 23, 2004
LATE DRIVE GIVES
VALDOSTA STATE KEY GSC WIN (BOX
SCORE)
FLORENCE – Valdosta State drove
78 yards in 11 plays to score a game-winning touchdown with just 32
seconds left and upend North Alabama 24-20 at Braly Stadium in a key
Gulf South Conference matchup.
The Lions led 13-3 in the fourth quarter before the Blazers were
ignited by a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. VSU then
recovered an onside kick and drove for another touchdown to take its
first lead of the game. North
Alabama answered, going 66 yards in just three plays for a go-ahead
touchdown that came on a 47-yard run by DeMarcus Blount with 5:04 to
play.
But Valdosta State mounted the
game-winning drive that ended in a one-yard run by Fabian Walker.
Valdosta State, ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II, improved to
7-1 overall and 7-0 in the GSC. UNA falls to 5-3 overall and 4-3 in
the GSC. The loss snapped a three-game UNA winning streak. With his
fourth quarter touchdown, Blount, a junior from Pensacola, Fla.,
scored for the 49th time in his UNA career. That total moved him
into second place in GSC history for touchdowns scored and his 298
career points broke the UNA career mark and also moved him into
second place in GSC history in scoring.
After a scoreless first quarter, UNA got on the board with 1:43 left
in the half on a 31-yard Beau Tanner field goal. VSU also managed to
get on the board before the half, however, on a 30-yard Will Rhody
field goal with four seconds left.
UNA regained the lead on a 13-yard Vinnie Saylor run with 6:06 left
in the third quarter and Tanner’s kick made it 10-3. Tanner’s
38-yard field goal with 13:28 left in the game extended the lead to
13-3.
On the ensuing kickoff, VSU’s Vincent Brown took the ball back 97
yards for a score and Rhody’s kick made it 13-10 with 13:03 left.
The Blazers then caught the Lions off-guard and executed an on-side
kick that VSU recovered at its own 46. Five plays later Walker hit
William Milton with a 22-yard touchdown pass for the lead with 11:13
left in the game. UNA
responded with two passes from Saylor to Jaron Fountain to move into
VSU territory and then Blount raced around the right end for the
score. Valdosta State moved on
its possession to the UNA 48 and faced third-and-12, but on a
double-lateral play, Walker went 15 yards for a first down to keep
the drive alive. Six plays later he scored the game winner.
UNA’s Blount finished with 124 yards on 18 carries. North Alabama
hosts West Georgia next Saturday at Braly Stadium. |
