Juston Lewis | The Valdosta Daily Times Running back Jamar Thompkins trots off the field after scoring his second touchdown against Mississippi College on Saturday.

VALDOSTA –– Valdosta State football (5-0, 3-0) is on the cusp of another milestone. 

After a 42-17 victory over Mississippi College (2-3, 1-2) the Blazers are one win away from the 300th in program history. 

However, the 299th victory might’ve been the most challenging of the young season. 

The Blazers took a 21-10 advantage into halftime but were met with an 89-yard touchdown drive by the Choctaws that spanned nearly five minutes in the third quarter. 

Clutching a four-point lead, the Blazers responded with a nearly five minute drive of their own to end the quarter and extend their lead. Then, the Blazers added two fourth-quarter touchdowns for insurance to secure the win. 

The Choctaws had nine more minutes of possession in the game and 14 more plays, but the Blazers still prevailed. It’s what has become expected from the defending national champions. 

“Well, they’re extremely coachable right now, so that’s a lot of fun,” head coach Gary Goff said about his players. “That makes going to work and coming up with game plans a lot easier … this team likes playing the game. I really think they’ve done a great job here going into week six. Everybody’s talking about ‘Hey we’re on track again’ … I have not heard any of that from the locker room. These guys want to come to practice and have fun playing the game.” 

A large part of the success is the Black Swarm defense playing through injuries and having a next man up mentality. Despite losing key players and battling early-season injuries, they’ve still adapted and contained teams. 

“We had a couple of guys go down so we really wanted to finish the job for those guys,” Jameon Gaskin said after the game. “It’s not hard when we get prepared throughout the week. Coach does a good job of rolling guys in. So when one guy goes down, the next man up. He knows his assignment. He knows his job. We go in there and get it done.” 

Another aspect that makes playing easy for the Blazers is when their plethora of weapons become weaponized.

Quarterback Rogan Wells connected on 19 of his 24 attempts, throwing for 191 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Wells also got it done with his legs, rushing for 45 yards. 

Running back Jamar Thompkins, in particular. Thompkins rushed for 150 yards against Shorter last week and produced more of the same against the Choctaws. 

The sophomore rushed for 149 yards on 10 carries with three touchdowns in the contest. 

On the second play of the game, Thompkins ripped a 54-yard touchdown to give the Blazers a seven-point advantage before a full minute of game clock could expire.

Thompkins was the Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year a season ago, and a Preseason All-Conference selection. 

But now, he’s just focused on helping the Blazers achieve their goals.

“We know what we want,” Tompkins said after the game. “If we want to put up more points, we’re going to try to put up more points. Whatever we can do to get more points on the board to help our defense out, that’s what we’re going to try to do.” 

With their 20th consecutive victory and 300th program win in sights, the Blazers remain keyed onto the bigger mission. 

“It’s special man but our motto is take it one week at a time,” Gaskin said. “1-0 at the end of every week. Don’t look too far ahead. We’re just a steady train rolling.”

UP NEXT

The Blazers will head to Cleveland, Mississippi to take on Delta State next weekend at 7 p.m. ET.