VALDOSTA — Saturday’s second-round Division II playoff matchup between Valdosta State and Catawba was every bit as close as a battle between two of the top 12 teams in the country was supposed to be.

At least in the first half.

The second half was a display of Valdosta State’s dominance, and the No. 8 Blazers won convincingly, 55-29, to advance to the Southeast Region finals next Saturday against longtime rival North Alabama.

Valdosta State and Catawba went into halftime with the 12th-ranked Indians leading 16-13. In the locker room, the Blazers made adjustments.

“They played great football in the second half,” Catawba head coach Chip Hester said. “I thought they really took control of the game in the second half. They made plays, and we didn’t have the answers.”

The Blazers’ defense clamped down on Catawba’s third-down conversions, and forced three second-half turnovers. On the other side of the ball, the offensive line made slight blocking adjustments and dominated the battle of the trenches, and the running game moved the ball at will.

In the game’s first two quarters, Catawba converted three of its six third downs for gains of 10, 14 and 33 yards, respectively. Each of those conversions led to points.

On the Indians’ second possession of the game, quarterback Brad Roach threw a 10-yard pass to George Bell and a 14-yard pass to Antwan Strong, both on third down, to keep alive an 11-play drive that ended in the Indians’ first touchdown. Bell scored on a 2-yard run. Travis Harrison blocked the extra point, keeping VSU in the lead, 7-6.

Bell’s touchdown answered a defensive score by VSU that came just 55 seconds into the game.

On the Indians’ second play of the game, VSU defensive back Roger King knocked the ball out of the hands of Grayson Downs. Free safety Sherard Reynolds scooped up the loose ball and ran it 34 yards into the end zone for the touchdown.

That was the only time VSU got into the end zone in the first half, as it struggled with red zone proficiency. Two of the Blazers’ four trips inside the Indians’ 20-yard line resulted in field goals. Zac Williams connected on kicks of 23 yards and 31 yards.

Williams’ 31-yarder, which brought the game within three, 16-13, right before halftime was not only the last field goal the Blazers would have to kick, but it was also the last time they entered the red zone without coming away with seven points.

“We were moving the ball very well, but when we got in the red zone, we just couldn’t score,” VSU head coach David Dean said. “I told our guys, ‘We can’t settle for three points any more. We have to go down and score touchdowns.’”

VSU did just that in the second half, wasting very little time in doing so.

On the first drive of the half, the Blazers handed the ball to junior running back Michael Terry five times, and he picked up 36 yards. That led to a 5-yard touchdown pass to Josh Rayam from Willie Copeland.

Terry had the biggest afternoon of anyone on the field, rushing for 139 yards on 23 carries. The Blazers rushed for 285 yards on 52 carries.

VSU’s offensive line deserved a lot of the credit for the running performance. The Blazers averaged four yards per carry in the first half, but increased it to 5.5 yards per carry for the entire game.

“I can’t say enough about our offensive line, and the way they played,” Dean said. “I thought they did a great job of opening holes. We challenged them in the second half, and said we were going to run the football. I think our offensive line and running backs did a good job of coming out and running the football right at them.”

The running game got into the end zone for the first time in the game on VSU’s next drive, a drive set up by another Harrison blocked kick. This time, the senior blocked a 41-yard field goal attempt, which Kenneth Hale picked up and ran 28 yards to the Indians’ 32-yard line.

After a long pass and a 10-yard Ronnye Nelson run, Terry rushed four yards into the end zone to make the score 27-16 in favor of the Blazers.

With VSU’s special teams contributing, the defense was not to be outdone. On the next drive, the Blazers halted a momentum-ending attempt by Catawba, as King intercepted a Roach pass at VSU’s 10-yard line. After three Terry runs, Cedric Jones turned a Copeland pass into a 27-yard touchdown.

The toss was Copeland’s second touchdown pass of the game. The senior quarterback finished with 171 yards on 16-of-29 passing.

With the Blazers ahead 34-16, the game appeared to be out of reach. Then the next play took any hope the Indians had of building momentum away.

The Blazers’ special teams again came up with a special play, this time on the kickoff return. Downs fumbled the ball for the second time on the night, this time on his own 24-yard line, and the Blazers recovered.

From there, VSU handed the ball to its workhorse, and Terry did the rest. The junior gained 16 and two yards on the first two plays, then crossed the goal line from one yard out for his second touchdown.

“On the return, we recovered. We were just starting to get momentum in the game, and we were able to get that,” Dean said. “That was huge.”

In the second half, it seemed like the wheels fell off for the Indians. VSU dominated the run game, controlled the special teams play and forced turnovers.

“We said we wanted to stop the run, take care of the football, play good special teams, and we didn’t do any of those things,” Hester said. “When you don’t do things that are key to winning a ballgame, you’re going to get beat badly. And that’s what happened to us.”

VSU added two more touchdowns, one on a 1-yard Scott Palmer run, and another on a 12-yard run by reserve quarterback Tucker Pruitt. The two scores were enough to overcome two touchdowns by the Indians late in the game.

The victory sets up a rematch between VSU and North Alabama. On Oct. 27, the Blazers came away with a 27-24 victory over the Lions. It is also a rematch of a 2005 playoff game, which the Lions won, 40-13, just three games after another three-point VSU victory.

“We’re just excited we survived another week,” Dean said. “We’re now one of the eight teams left in the NCAA Division II playoffs. We’re going to be excited about that and (today) start watching film, and go out on the field for the first time and run off a little soreness and start focusing in on UNA.

“We’re excited about it. It says a lot about the Gulf South Conference, and that two GSC teams are fighting for the second consecutive year for the Southeast Championship.”