VALDOSTA – Valdosta State’s national playoff run ended Saturday at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, Lenoir-Rhyne winning its second upset in as many weeks, 35-7. Rain fell every second of the contest, soaking everyone out in it to the bone.
VSU ends the year in the quarterfinals, Tremaine Jackson’s team finishing 12-2 in his second season at the helm. Lenoir-Rhyne advances to the Division II national semifinals, where they will wait to hear their opponent.
Colorado School of Mines, Harding and Kutztown are the other semifinalists. Harding won by a slim 7-6 over Grand Valley State. Kutztown defeated Slippery Rock, 28-16; Mines won by a 38-14 final over Central Washington.
Saturday’s miserable weather gave way to a miserable second quarter for the Blazers. Lenoir-Rhyne scored 28 of their 35 points there, aided by two VSU turnovers and a blocked punt.
Valdosta State scored its lone touchdown in the third, Sammy Edwards directing traffic to hit Tyler Aiero on the back line of the end zone. Little else went their way.
The second period actually started on a good note for Valdosta State. A funky snap resulted in the Bears missing a 23-yard field goal.
Lenoir-Rhyne got the ball back after a punt, their offense continuing to click after the last drive.
From midfield, Dwayne McGee immediately ran for 43 yards to reach the VSU 5. DeAree Rogers reached the 1 on a pass from Sean White, then McGee punched it in from a yard out. Jake Brown kicked the first of five extra points at 9:49 and the Bears were the board with a 7-0 lead.
The quarter quickly took a bad turn from there.
VSU was unable to pick up a first down from inside their own 30, then the Noah Botsford’s punt was blocked by Ben Watson, the visitors taking over at the 17.
Three McGee rushes put the ball on the two, where Zayvion Turner completed the drive at 5:52. Now in trouble down 14 points in the rain, Lenoir-Rhyne visited more upon the Blazers soon.
Trying to make magic happen from his own 25, Edwards saw a pass attempt slip a bit and defensive lineman Rashad Yelding make an athletic one-handed grab at the 20, then turn his 295 pounds downfield. The 16-yard gain put the Bears in excellent position at the 4.
Lenoir-Rhyne needed only one snap for a three touchdown lead, quarterback White doing the honors on a run at 4:53.
The miserably wet, awful, no good quarter was not done, however.
Edwards had one of his best rushes of the day, for 10 yards, but VSU had been behind the sticks and he wasn’t able to pick up a first. Botsford nailed a 66-yard punt that was rolled dead at the 2.
Unfortunately, this was prime position for Lenoir-Rhyne. Turner-Knox gashed the defense for 11 yards to get out of the shadow of his goalposts. On the next play, he broke to the left, got into the next level and scurried down the Blazers’ sideline en route to an 87-yard touchdown.
Lenoir-Rhyne recovered one more fumble in the period, at the VSU 27, but to the home side’s relief, could not get any more points before the break. Tyler Morehead had a sack to knock the Bears out of field goal range.
A long drive to start the third quarter was the Blazers’ best of the night, 12 plays and 78 yards for their lone score.
Edwards found his best rhythm, completing two passes each to BK Smith and Noah Gillen to get into the red zone. At the 17, Smith gained 12 on a reception to get to the 5.
The first two plays saw VSU lose a yard, but on third down Edwards scrambled out of his pocket. At first, it appeared that Edwards might try to run for the pylon, but he directed traffic, slammed on the brakes and threw to the back line where Ajiero made a tumbling catch.
Estin Thiele’s PAT kick at 9:19 gave the Blazers life at 28-7.
Valdosta State got what it wanted on its next defensive possession, forcing a punt. However, Lenoir-Rhyne’s defense was done giving the Blazers any chances.
Two sacks made for a quick three-and-out and punt. VSU’s next possession also saw Edwards taken down for a big loss. At that point, there was barely a minute left in the half and the Bears had the ball to start the fourth.
Up 21 points in the neverending rain, Lenoir-Rhyne was more than content to grind out as much clock as possible. With their defense forcing quick punts by Valdosta State, they ate up the fourth frame quickly.
Justin Jeffery had a 42-yard reception on VSU’s final drive to get to midfield. The Bears forced a last turnover there, an interception by Chris Brown. Lenoir-Rhyne ran out the final 2:16 after the pick.
Botsford had a 62-yard punt in the first quarter as both teams spent the 15 minutes trying to figure out what they could and could not do in the downpour.
Council Allen had catches of 13 and 14 yards for VSU’s first two first downs. The drive reached as far as the Bears’ 48, but no further. Botsford booted a punt into the end zone.
Malik Taylor forced a fumble near the sideline at the end of the period, Lenoir-Rhyne barely on top of it before it went out of bounds at the 23.
The Bears were on the VSU 1 when the quarter ended, but a false start and slick snap saw them come up with no points.
Edwards had a tough day, completing 14 of 35 pass attempts for 143 yards and a touchdown. Lenoir-Rhyne sacked him four times, which limited the nimble Edwards to a net of (-28) rushing yards.
On the day, the Blazers had 2 rushing yards, Eric Watts leading the wa with 13.
Jeffrey’s one catch led the receiving corps with 42 yards. Gillan’s three catches gave him 36. Smith had four for 35. Ajiero’s one catch was for a six-yard touchdown.
Turner-Knox and McGee both went over 100 rushing yards for the Bears, the former at 145 and the latter at 102. In total, they ran 52 times for 307 yards.
White only threw 15 times, completing nine for 51 yards. The Blazers sacked White once.
VSU was held to seven first downs and 145 total yards. The Blazers punted 10 times, Botsford with an outstanding average of 45.2 yards per kick. Not including the block, Botsford averaged 50.2 per boot.