Valdosta State’s dream to be called sole Gulf South Conference champions came to a disappointing end on Thursday night at Tigers Stadium.

West Alabama scored 24 points in the second half, after being shut out in the first half, VSU had two extra points and a field goal blocked and the Blazers were on the wrong end of some controversial calls and non-calls.

The result was a 24-21 loss to West Alabama to end the regular season. The Blazers can, at best, settle for co-champions of the GSC with Delta State. If North Alabama and Henderson State win on Saturday, there will be a four-way tie for the GSC title.

At stake was also the No. 2 seed in the Super Region 2 rankings and a first-round bye. The Blazers still may be able to keep the No. 2 seed with the loss, but they certainly would have wrapped it up with a win over the Tigers.

The Blazers (8-2, 6-2 in the GSC) will find out their playoff fate on Sunday at 3 p.m., when the Division II playoff selections are announced on ESPNNews.

“It is frustrating,” Blazers head coach David Dean said. “We wanted to have the Gulf South Conference championship all to ourselves, and not have to share it. But the bottom line is we’re still the Gulf South Conference champions. We’ve earned that. The kids have earned that, despite all the things that have happened to us this season.”

For the Tigers, the win over the Blazers was one they will remember for a long time. VSU led the all-time series 27-1 entering the game. It was head coach Bobby Wallace’s last game as a head coach. The legendary Wallace won three consecutive Division II championships with North Alabama in the mid-90s.

It was also the final game of Tigers quarterback Deon Williams’ career. Williams played running back as a freshman for the Blazers, before leaving VSU to move closer to his home in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Williams shrugged off a tough first half to finish with two touchdown passes and the game-winning 2-yard touchdown run with 5:52 left in the game.

The Blazers had one last chance to respond to Williams’ touchdown. They moved the ball to West Alabama’s 25 with under two minutes left. Then on second-and-12 from the 27, center Jake Thomas snapped the ball to Ronnye Nelson while Nelson wasn’t looking. Nelson raced to recover the ball, and did, but it was back at the VSU 46.

On fourth down, Austen Roberts’ Hail Mary pass to Stevie Harden fell incomplete. On the play, Harden was grabbed in the end zone while the pass was in the air, but pass interference was not called.

It wasn’t the only controversial call or no-call. A Tiger defender also made contact with Harden in the end zone on a play in the first half before the ball arrived, but no interference was called. Later in the half, a Tiger defender intercepted a Roberts pass out of bounds, but the official called him inbounds. Replay showed that the defender was out of bounds. The turnover came with VSU approaching field goal range.

“I ask those guys, ‘Do you realize how hard our kids work?’ I think the bottom line is … I don’t know what it is,” Dean said. “It’s frustrating for us to go through this each and every week. Our kids play hard. They play just as hard as everybody else. That’s not what cost us the game, obviously. We missed two extra points, which were blocked, had a field goal which was blocked. If we had all those, it’s not even close. We go ahead, and have a good comfortable lead.”

As frustrating as the officiating was for the Blazers, they had plenty of self-inflicted wounds. Daniel Andersen had two extra points blocked, and later had a field goal blocked. All three kicks were blocked on rushes up the middle. The Blazers also fumbled a kickoff that West Alabama recovered deep in VSU territory, and turned into a field goal.

The missed kicks forced the Blazers to go for a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter, which they failed to get.

Early on, the Blazers looked like they had the game in control. Their offense looked sharp on its opening drive. Roberts, who started in place of Brett Whitmire, completed two passes to convert a pair of third downs, and David Arnold ran for a 13-yard touchdown to cap off the 11-play, five minute and 20 second scoring drive.

Andersen kicked a 19-yard field goal later in the quarter to give VSU a 9-0 lead.

Harrison Dreiling intercepted Williams’ pass on the Tigers’ first drive of the second half. VSU scored on the ensuing drive on a 2-yard pass from Roberts to Nelson. Roberts found Nelson on third-and-14 on the previous play for a 27-yard gain to the West Alabama 2. After Andersen’s second blocked extra point, the Blazers led 15-0.

The Tigers got back into the game with a quick strike on their next possession. Williams hit Kendrick May deep down the middle on a 59-yard pass, and Gerald Worsham caught Williams’ next pass for a 7-yard touchdown to cut VSU’s lead to 15-7.

West Alabama used two more big plays to get closer to VSU later in the third. Williams hit Randy Lowery on a 57-yard pass down the sideline, then found him for a 30-yard touchdown pass. Williams’ pass on a two-point conversion attempt to tie the game was batted down, and the Blazers breathed a sigh of relief with a 15-13 lead.

It didn’t last long. Jordan McNair fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and West Alabama recovered and returned it to the VSU 11. The Black Swarm held the Tigers out of the end zone, but Brock Sharp booted a 40-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 16-15 lead. On the drive, a West Alabama player picked up a flag thrown for holding while the official wasn’t looking. It should have been an automatic 15-yard penalty that pushed the Tigers out of field goal range, but it wasn’t called.

The Blazers’ offense responded with maybe its best drive of the season. The Blazers went 73 yards in 12 plays, 11 of which were rushes, and scored when Nelson took a direct snap from the West Alabama 5 and scooted in for a touchdown. The only pass on the drive came on third-and-5 deep in Tigers territory, and Roberts hit David Bailey for an 8-yard completion. Nelson couldn’t convert a two-point conversion to give VSU a seven-point lead, and the Blazers led 21-16.

But Williams couldn’t be stopped. He converted big play after big play on the Tigers’ next drive, and got into the end zone on a 2-yard keeper. He kept the two-point try alive with his legs, and hit Jacob Burks in the back of the end zone to make it 24-21.

The Blazers ended up rushing for 236 yards. Arnold led the way with 18 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown. It was his first 100-yard rushing game.