VALDOSTA — The No. 14 Valdosta State Blazers earned the No. 3-seed in NCAA Super Region Two and will host Limestone University (S.C.) today at 1 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Division II Football Championship. The Blazers are making their 19th appearance in the postseason, while Limestone is making its second appearance as it qualified in 2022 for the first time.
The winner of this game will meet the winner of the No. 2-seed Delta State vs. West Florida game next Saturday. If the Blazers were to win and Delta State won, VSU would travel to Delta State, while if UWF won and the Blazers won, the Argos would travel to Valdosta.
TALK 92.1 FM will broadcast the Blazer games all season long with Mike McDowd and Andy Gibbs having the call. The game also will be streamed live on Hudl (per NCAA) with Dave Garner and Taylor Biddle calling the action. Fans can access links to the radio broadcast and video broadcast at vstateblazers.com on the football schedule page.
Today’s game versus Limestone will mark the ninth-straight home game (minus national championship game appearances) the Blazers have played in the playoffs. VSU is 6-2 in those games with the only losses being in the first round (last time VSU has played in the first round) in 2016 to UNC-Pembroke (24-21) and in the second round in 2019 in a heartbreaking 38-35 loss to West Florida.
Overall, VSU is 20-7 at home in the playoffs, 5-5 on the road and 4-2 in neutral site matchups. The Blazers last home game in the playoffs came in 2021 when VSU downed Colorado School of Mines 34-31 on Dec. 11, 2021, in the national semifinals.
This year marks the 10th year of football at Limestone University, located in Gaffney, S.C. The Saints are receiving votes in the latest AFCA Top 25 and went 8-3 this season and 8-1 in South Atlantic Conference play, losing to league-champion Lenoir-Rhyne, 31-28, on Oct. 7.
The Saints also played West Georgia and West Alabama this season, losing to both in the first two games of the year. LU then rattled off three-straight wins, before the loss to LR and then has won five-straight since.
Quarterback Dustin Noller earned SAC Offensive Player of the Year honors, while six other Saints earned all-league honors. He is the first player to earn the honor in program history as he has completed 208 passes for 2,704 yards while adding 26 touchdowns to only four interceptions on the season. Noller has thrown for multiple touchdowns in eight of his 10 games played this year and surpassed 300 yards passing on three occasions. He leads the conference in total passing yards per game (270.4) and passing touchdowns while the Limestone offense as a whole leads the SAC in yards per game at 443.4.
Senior offensive lineman JJ Martin and wide receiver Jelani Baker along with
junior running back Tre Stewart were tabbed All-SAC Offense while senior linebacker Chandler Matthews earned an All-SAC Defense nod. Senior wide receiver Drew Dixon earned a spot on the All-Piedmont Offensive Team and sophomore defensive lineman Damon Early took home All-Piedmont Defensive Team honors.
Stewart became the first back in history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons after eclipsing more than 1,200 yards this year. Stewart rushed for more than 100 yards in eight of 10 games, including a 225-yard effort at Barton on Nov. 4.
Valdosta State has won five more games this season thus far than a year ago in Jackson’s first year as head coach VSU went 5-6 last season and is 10-1 this year, while the team was 2-5 in league play and 7-1 this season.
VSU put together arguably its most complete performance of the season in a 58-28 throttling of West Georgia on Saturday night at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. The Blazers amassed 520 yards of offense and arguably played its most complete game of the season against the Wolves (6-4, 5-3 GSC).
The Blazers had 29 carries on the ground for 137 yards as the team found the running game again after sub-100-yard games each of the past two weeks.
The 520 yards of total offense was the most since 542 yards against Keiser (Sept. 16). VSU also had 30 first downs for the second-most this season behind 31 first downs against Point in the season-opener.
Valdosta State’s “D” held UWG to 390 yards for the game, marking the eighth time of allowing a team under 400 yards of offense and just 19 first downs. The Blazers also picked off the Wolves three times, including a pick-six for the final score of the game, and two fumble recoveries. VSU regained the Peach Basket forever and pulled within 3-2 in the Red Clay Rivalry Series through the fall.
Blazer junior quarterback Sammy Edwards was 28 of 42 passing for 383 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, while he had six carries for 42 yards. Sophomore running back Bud Chaney finished with 14 carries for 56 yards and two rushing scores, while he also had one reception for 39 yards. B.K. Smith had five carries for 88 yards and reigning GSC Freshman of the Week Rodney Bullard had seven receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown. Thiele went a season-best 3 for 3 in field goals and 7 of 7 in extra-points for 16 points as he surpassed former Blazer standout running back Seth McGill for sixth all-time in school history in scoring with 280 career points.
Defensively, Harris finished with 14 tackles and one tackle for a loss, while three different Blazers had interceptions, including a pick-six from junior Akil Lampley as he returned it 33-yards for a score in the fourth quarter. It was the first pick-six for VSU since former Blazer Taurus Dotson returned one 47-yards at West Alabama on Oct. 16, 2021.