VALDOSTA — After three non-conference games to begin the season, the Valdosta State Blazers will host the West Alabama Tigers Saturday in the Gulf South Conference opener for both teams.

The game will have a large impact on what team will win the conference this season.

“It is a rivalry game because it is a Gulf South Conference game,” Valdosta State head coach David Dean said. “Every Gulf South Conference team we have (on the schedule) we consider a rival...In my mind, (West Alabama) is the best football team in the Gulf South Conference. We are going to have to go out and approach it that way. We have to play these guys a great football game.”

During the preseason, the Blazers and Tigers were picked to finish 1-2 in the conference, according to a vote by the coaches. Three weeks into the season, the two teams look to be the strongest in the conference.

Both Valdosta State and West Alabama sit with 2-1 records, along with West Georgia, which lost to Miles College last week. North Alabama and Delta State, schools that are normally powers in the conference, both have a lot of new faces and seem to be going through growing pains early this season.

The Lions and Statesmen play each other this weekend in the only other matchup featuring GSC teams.

When speaking with the Times on Tuesday, West Alabama head coach Will Hall noted the importance of Saturday’s game, but wouldn’t say whether he thought it would determine a conference champion.

“I tell you, in this league, everyone is going to be pretty good. That is the way it always is,” Hall said. “Obviously, us and Valdosta have the most returners coming back. It is a big game. Like I said, it sets you up to be in the driver's seat moving forward for the rest of the year."

While a conference champion won’t be crowned this weekend, one team will have the upper-edge in the conference standings. With just five conference games (one against newcomer Shorter, who is not eligible for the conference championship or postseason play), a victory to start conference play becomes even more critical.

“You have to treat it a little bit different out here at practice,” quarterback Cayden Cochran said. “Not to say the ones we’ve played don’t count, because we definitely want to win every game we play, but this one has kind of been a target.”

Last year, the Tigers finished with an 8-4 record and made an appearance in the Division II playoffs where they fell to North Alabama. One of their four losses was to Valdosta State, which used two Matt Pierce interceptions to secure a 22-21 win.

“I am not gonna lie, that is probably one of my favorite games to go back and think about,” Pierce said. “But, I don’t want to get caught up in that too much because this is a new year, a new team and a new season. I know they are kind of angry with how the game ended last year, so I just want to kind of make my own mark on this football game.”

In the win over West Alabama, the Blazer defense had trouble slowing down running back Matt Willis. The then-junior ran for 219 yards on 31 carries with a touchdown.

“We have to get a lot of people to the ball,” Dean said. “We have to get guys off blocks better. They did a great job of hemming us up and we didn’t get a lot of good licks on (Willis) last year. He broke a lot of tackles. We have to make sure we hang out to him, and he is not an easy guy to tackle. So you have to hang out and let the calvary come.”

From a players perspective, this year is different and after two back-to-back impressive defensive performances by the Blazer defense, the confidence is high, too.

“We feel like we have a better defense this year,” senior linebacker Ryan Smith said. “Our mentality, we feel like nobody can run over our defense right about now.”

The Blazers are clearly focused on slowing down Willis, who according to Hall, will get the ball early and often in Saturday’s game.

"Well Matt is our best player. So we are definitely going to hand him the ball,” said Hall of Willis, who has rushed for 288 yards with three touchdowns on 45 carries this season. “I will try to get him as many touches as I can. I think, in big games, you have to think about calling the right players, not the right plays. So we are definitely going to get Matt the ball. We definitely don't want to be driving home from Valdosta and Matt Willis hasn't touched the ball enough.”

To help prepare for Willis and the Tigers’ aggressive and powerful running game, the Blazers raised the level of physicality in practice on Tuesday.

“You got to be physical to play against these guys,” Dean said. “This is going to be a physical football game.”

The significance of slowing down Willis can’t be overlooked. If the Tigers can’t run the ball, they will be forced to turn to the passing game, which has struggled this season. Tiger quarterback Kyle Caldwell has completed 60 percent of his passes, but has thrown four interceptions to just three touchdowns.

If the Tigers are forced to throw the ball, the Blazers have to feel comfortable with their pass defense, which forced eight interceptions through the first two games.

“It is very important, if we can force them to the pass and stop the run,” Smith said. “I feel like we would definitely have the advantage if we can do that.”

“Any time you can force a team to go one-dimensional, whether it is all run or all pass, you have a good chance to be very successful. That is what we have to be able to do. We have to be able to shut down their run. If we can do, than the play action pass is not as effective and you force them to be one-dimensional and throw the ball.”

For more on the Times’ 1-on-1 interview with West Alabama coach Will Hall, visit www.blazersportsbeat.com. A complete preview of this week’s game will be available in Saturday’s edition of the Times.