CLEVELAND, Miss. – B.K. Smith caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Sammy Edwards with 9 seconds to go Saturday and the Valdosta State Blazers upset Delta State in the Division II playoffs, 38-31.
Valdosta State will be home Saturday in the national quarterfinal game. Lenoir-Rhyne upset Benedict – No. 1 in the Super Region Two bracket – 35-25 and the Blazers are the higher-seeded remaining team.
Tied at 28-28, a late short punt by Delta State set up the winning sequence. Starting in Statesmen territory, Edwards completed three consecutive passes in the final minute. The first two put the ball in sure range for kicker Estin Thiele, but VSU wasn’t satisfied.
Edwards put the ball on the money and Smith scored with nine seconds to go. Thiele’s extra point kick connected.
Delta State had one final play after the kickoff but turned over the football.
The Blazers held the lead or were tied for nearly every minute of the contest. VSU was ahead 21-14 at halftime, but it was 21-21 going into the fourth quarter. The hosts’ only lead of the contest was 31-28 on a Nick Herber field goal. Thiele tied it with a field goal with 2:42 remaining.
Edwards threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns on 34 of 46 passing, according to official stats. He was also the only Blazer to have much luck running, scoring twice on the ground.
Bud Chaney ran for two touchdowns. Rodney Bullard caught Edwards’ other touchdown fling.
Both Valdosta State and Delta State were one-loss teams; the Statesmen had defeated VSU during the regular season, 49-25.