Valdosta State linebacker Ryan Smith (31) tackles North Alabama’s Antwan Ivey (4) on Saturday at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

It happened again Saturday afternoon.

For the third game in a row, a football team scored in the final minute to beat Valdosta State.

This time, it was North Alabama who scored late to get a 30-23 win over the Blazers. Wes Holland’s 16-yard touchdown catch with 57.3 seconds left in the game gave the Lions the lead, and Bryan Thomas picked off a pass in the end zone with 1.6 seconds left to seal the win.

It was a tough way for the Blazers to end the season. Those three close losses turned a 6-1 team into a 6-4 team. VSU needed to beat North Alabama to have a chance to make the postseason.

“I hate it for our seniors,” Valdosta State head coach David Dean said. “A lot of them will never play again. When you lose (your last game) that’s always the toughest part, because you want everybody to go out as a winner. Unfortunately that wasn’t going to take place this year, and I feel for them.

“But those seniors had a great career. Those 12 guys played excellent football for us. I’m very fortunate we had them as part of this program.”

VSU ends the season with three straight narrow losses. The cumulative time left on the clock when their three opponents scored the winning points was 1:44.

“It’s frustrating, because we lost three ballgames in the last minute of the game,” Dean said. “I feel for those guys, because they put themselves in position to win ballgames. We were very unfortunate we weren’t able to make stops at the end.”

Dean said he hoped the sour end to the season would motivate the Blazers in their offseason workouts. Wide receiver Griffin Roelle said it definitely would.

“People won’t be able to believe how hard we’re going to be working. I know I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we win,” Roelle said. “I’m going to make sure my teammates are, too.”

With the score tied 23-23 and 4:37 left in the game, North Alabama got the ball at its own 21-yard line, following a Blazer punt. After Chris Coffey’s 2-yard run on third-and-1 kept the drive alive, VSU’s Alex Webster was flagged for pass interference, a call that several Blazer coaches clearly disagreed with. Then UNA quarterback Lee Chapple kept the drive alive with an 8-yard pass to Jason Smith on third-and-3. The Lions got two more first downs, and moved the ball to the Blazer 16.

Then, after a VSU timeout, Chapple took the snap, faked a handoff and tossed the ball to Holland in the flat. Holland got a block in front of him, and ran into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown, giving North Alabama a 30-23 lead.

Backup quarterback Brett Whitmire drove the Blazers down to the Lions’ 27 with a pair of runs and a pair of completions. With nine seconds left in the game, he threw the ball to the end zone, but Thomas picked off the pass, sealing the Lions’ win.

North Alabama got on the board first on Saturday, driving 60 yards in nine plays on its third possession of the game. On second-and-goal from the 4, Chapple took the snap, looked at one receiver, then threw it to Smith, who caught it in the front right corner of the end zone for the touchdown, giving the Lions a 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, VSU’s Matt Pierce caught the ball, started left, then saw an opening. Pierce raced past the Lions’ kick coverage, broke into the open, turned on his speed and sprinted 96 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. It was VSU’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since Ronnye Nelson returned one for a touchdown in the 2007 playoffs — also against North Alabama. It was the sixth-longest kickoff return in VSU history.

On the two-point conversion, a North Alabama player rushed in from the right side and blocked the kick. Darnell Jackson picked up the ball and took off running down the field. He sprinted all the way into the end zone to give his team two points, giving the Lions a 9-6 lead.

On the second play of North Alabama’s next possession, Chapple threw the ball right to VSU linebacker Chris Pope, who returned it all the way to the Lions’ 12. But UNA’s DeAndre Morgan picked off a Cayden Cochran pass in the end zone.

In the second quarter, Valdosta State had an 11-play, 79-yard scoring drive. On second down from the Lion 19, Cochran took the snap from the pistol formation, and with a heavy rush coming, dumped a screen pass to fullback Cameo Holloway. Holloway caught the pass, followed the blockers in front of him and crossed the goal line as he was being tackled. Daniel Andersen’s extra point gave the Blazers a 13-9 lead.

But North Alabama answered the Blazers’ touchdown with one of their own, going 63 yards in seven plays to retake the lead. Coffey scored on a 1-yard run, giving the Lions a 16-13 lead.

There were only 40 seconds left in the half when the Blazers got the ball back. But that was all the time they needed. Cochran led the VSU offense down the field and into scoring position.

With the ball at the UNA 33, Cochran took the snap, and got excellent protection from his offensive line. Roelle got behind the secondary, Cochran spotted him and fired for the end zone. Roelle jumped, caught the ball and landed in the back of the end zone for a touchdown with 2.7 seconds left in the half, giving Valdosta State a 20-16 halftime lead.

“I just ran my route well. It was supposed to be a double move, I got the safety to bite and the quarterback made one heck of a throw,” Roelle said.

UNA’s Janoris Jenkins nearly returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, but was knocked out of bounds at the VSU 4 with no time left on the clock.

On VSU’s second possession of the second half, the Blazers drove down the field, and Andersen kicked a 26-yard field goal, extending his team’s lead to 23-16.

Early in the fourth quarter, Cochran was hit hard from behind as he released the ball on a pass, and landed on his shoulder. He lay on the ground for a couple of minutes before walking off the field, and did not return. Whitmire replaced Cochran on the next drive.

After a three-and-out, VSU lined up to punt with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. A UNA player broke through and blocked Andersen’s punt, then blocked Andersen while teammate Robbie Burdine picked up the ball and ran it into the end zone for a game-tying touchdown, making it 23-23.

“The whole game changed on that blocked punt,” Dean said. “We’ve got to get (the punt) away quicker, and they did a good job of blocking it.”

After North Alabama’s defense forced VSU to punt, the Lions took over at their own 21, and drove for the go-ahead score with 57.2 seconds left. Then Thomas picked off a pass in the end zone with 1.6 seconds left to seal the win.

Chapple completed 26 of 38 passes for 247 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for North Alabama. Antwan Ivey was UNA’s leading rusher, gaining 73 yards on 14 carries. Cameron Wade caught six passes for 62 yards, while Tristan Purifoy had five receptions for 61 yards.

For Valdosta State, Cochran completed 10 of 20 passes for 102 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and ran for 68 yards on 11 carries. Eugene Glenn gained 98 yards on 18 carries. Quin Roberson caught three passes for 42 yards.