VALDOSTA —
Hours after clinching the school’s fourth-ever trip to the NCAA Division II National Championship Game, the Valdosta State football team was left sitting on the tarmac of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, wondering if it would ever get home in time to prepare for next week’s title game opponent, Winston-Salem State.
The Blazers (11-2) were left sitting inside their AirTran Airways charter airplane for more than 2 1/2 hours early Sunday morning, waiting for buses to arrive to finish their journey back home to Valdosta.
After departing Minneapolis, Minn., narrowly missing a heavy snow storm, around 10:40 p.m. Eastern time, the Blazers’ plane was headed for Valdosta. With less than 30 minutes remaining in the flight, the pilot announced that heavy fog made it unsafe to attempt to land the airplane at Valdosta Regional Airport.
The Blazers were diverted to Atlanta and left waiting for buses to arrive and drive them back south to Valdosta.
Once the plane touched down in Atlanta, it was announced that federal aviation guidelines, passed following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, prohibited the Blazers from exiting the plane and waiting on the tarmac while their buses were en route to the airport.
Instead, players, coaches, administration and media were left sitting inside the airplane for nearly the same amount of time it took the Blazers to beat previously-unbeaten Minnesota State-Mankato, 35-19, in the national semifinals on Saturday.
Valdosta State’s buses finally arrived shortly after 3 a.m. The team arrived back in Valdosta just after 6:30 a.m.
The Blazers will face the undefeated Winston-Salem (N.C.) State Rams in the Division II national championship game Saturday at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Ala.
The Rams enter the game with a perfect 14-0 record, and are looking to become the first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team, and just the fifth-ever undefeated team, to win a Division II national championship.
Meanwhile, Valdosta State is making its fourth-ever appearance in the championship game (the Blazers also played in the title game in 2002, 2004 and 2007). Saturday’s appearance will mark the Blazers’ second appearance under head coach David Dean, and first since beating Northwest Missouri State in 2007.
The Blazers will act as the visiting team for the first time in a championship game. They served as the home team the three previous times, including in 2004, when they knocked off Pittsburg State for the championship.
Tickets for the game go on sale today at 8:30 a.m. at the Valdosta State Athletic Ticket Office, located inside the P.E. Complex off of Baytree Road. VSU has 1,000 tickets for sale. All tickets are $20.
Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 1:04 p.m. Eastern kickoff in Florence.
The Valdosta Daily Times will have complete coverage of the week leading up to Saturday's national championship game, including coverage from Florence.
Blazers Blog
Related Photos
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Valdosta State safety Chris Caspari (3) takes down Edward Waters ball carrier Philip Teamer (2) earlier this season. Paul Leavy | Special to the Times
Discussion
Travel woes affect Blazers’ return home
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VSU eliminated
Valdosta State softball’s bid for a national title repeat came up short this season.
The Blazers were eliminated from the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament Saturday with a 7-5 loss in nine innings to Armstrong Atlantic University, a school based off the Georgia coast in Savannah. -
Win or go home
The Valdosta State softball team faces Armstrong Atlantic University in an elimination game for the 2013 Division II Softball Championship Tournament today at noon.
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Blazers fall to Molloy in eight innings
With only one out remaining and trailing by three, the Molloy Lions strung together four hits to plate three runs in the seventh followed by another run in the eighth inning to defeat Valdosta State’s softball team 5-4 in the first round of the 2013 Division II Softball National Championship Tournament on Thursday in Salem, Va.
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Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors
Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.
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Sending the Blazers off
The Valdosta State softball team made the long journey to Salem, Va. Tuesday, leaving Valdosta at 10:30 a.m. with devoted fans cheering them out of the parking lot.
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VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
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Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Former Lady Blazer Ferguson hired to lead Vikettes
The sign above the door still has Shan Garner’s name on it. There is even a Shan Garner plaque sitting on one of the shelves in the corner of the gymnasium office.
That will soon change, though, as Lowndes has hired its newest girls’ basketball coach. - More Blazers Blog Headlines
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