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Becky Taylor/Valdosta Daily Times Miles QB Kam Ivory thought he could pick up fourth-and-short. That was a mistake as he is stuffed by Blazers Joko Willis, Larry Elder and Alajujuan Sparks.

Becky Taylor/Valdosta Daily Times Graeson Malashevich makes a big third down first down with a 26-yard catch. The drive eventually resulted in a Blake Hester touchdown.

Becky Taylor/Valdosta Daily Times Rance Conner celebrates his second quarter interception, which ended a Miles drive at midfield.

Becky Taylor/Valdosta Daily Times Blake Hester breaks out of an attempted ankle tackle for an 18-yard touchdown for his second touchdown in nine seconds, giving Valdosta State a 30-3 lead.

Becky Taylor/Valdosta Daily Times Sterling Roberts gets in the initial hit on Miles College quarterback Kam Ivory before Larry Elder finishes off the sack for a 14-yard loss.

Becky Taylor/Valdosta Daily Times Bud Chaney briefly surfs a Golden Bear defender on a fourth quarter rush.

VALDOSTA — Blake Hester scored twice in nine seconds Saturday and Valdosta State is headed back to the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals after a 33-17 victory over Miles College Saturday.

VSU (11-0) advances to its second straight elite eight this Saturday, Dec. 7, against Virginia Union (10-3). Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

The Blazers were in command throughout the game, with the defense stepping up again as the offense only managed to score in spurts.

Valdosta State scored touchdowns on their first two possessions Saturday, but instead of heading into early blowout territory, the Blazers were up only 16-3 at halftime. That was still the case until late in the third quarter.

Taking over at their own 13 at 9:12 in the third frame after a punt, the Blazers inched down the field. They picked up six first downs and chewed up 8:35 of clock time. The drive was mostly rushing, but did include a key third down pickup on by Graeson Malashevich on a 28-yard pass from Sammy Edwards down to the Miles 14.

Even there, the Blazers needed six snaps to score and were aided by a Golden Bears facemask penalty at the end of an Edwards run.

Finally, Hester crashed in from the 37 seconds left in the third. Austin McKay’s extra point gave VSU a 20-3 lead.

Hester soon scored again, but under much different circumstances. This drive took all of eight seconds.

Valdosta State took advantage of Miles’ formation on the kickoff, squibbing a kick that bounced around near the Golden Bears’ sideline until Dallas Robinson was able to control it at the 13.

A false start knocked VSU back five yards before they started, but that did not matter one bit. Hester exploded up the middle for an 18-yard touchdown with 28 seconds left. What had been manageable for Miles at a 13-point deficit only a minute earlier was completely out of reach at 30-3.

Miles got its first touchdown of the day at 8:06, a six-yard throw by Kam Ivory to Jaih Andrews on fourth down. Andrews was initially stopped short, but the rolling tackle kept him off the ground long enough to get the nose of the football into the end zone.

McKay booted a 15-yard field goal at 5:55 to extend the lead to 33-10. Ivory finished a four-play, 78-yard drive with Franck Pierre making an over-the-shoulder catch in the back corner at 4:44.

Miles attempted onside kicks after both touchdowns, VSU recovering both. Both teams had a final possession in the last 4:30. The game ended with Miles on their own 20.

The afternoon did not start off wonderfully for the visiting Golden Bears. After picking up one first down, their opening drive stalled at midfield. A shanked punt went out of bounds after only 15 yards.

After a first down incompletion, Alfonso McNeil blasted 31 yards, getting into Miles territory at the 34. Two passes to Hester moved VSU up 12 more..

At the 19, Hester got the ball again on a pass, made a move to the sideline and tightroped his way for the game’s first score at 9:56. A mishap on the conversion kept the score at 6-0.

A series of short passes by Ivory brought the Golden Bears down the field over the next four minutes. They reached the 18 but suddenly Ivory couldn’t hit his targets. A pass breakup by Sean Calhoun didn’t help the visitors and they settled for a 28-yard field by Roderick Smith at 4:55.

VSU was soon on the move again. Rodney Bullard had a big 33-yard reception to get them down to the 34. There, McNeil got the ball on a hand-off, stutter-stepped and exploded past the secondary for the 34-yard score at 3:33. McKay’s kick was good and the new score was 13-3.

That’s where the game stayed for the rest of the first and nearly all of the second.

Miles incurred the wrath of the Valdosta State defense in the second any time the Bears tried to get anything going.

Larry Elder recorded the only Blazer sack of the day early in the second, tackling Ivory for a 14-yard loss on third-and-5. The next drive brought Miles to midfield. On fourth-and-1, the guests kept the offense on the field, running right at the reinforced VSU defensive line. Joko Willis, Alajujuan Sparks and Elder stopped Ivory for no gain and a turnover on downs.

VSU couldn’t get anything going, either, but did flip the field when a Noah Botsford punt pinned Miles at the 2 with 6:55 left in the half. The Bears began a meandering drive there that saw them not even to midfield five minutes later.

Jaylon Johnson broke up an Ivory throw, which got the Blazers’ juices flowing. On the very next play, Rance Conner made a diving interception at the 50 to get the ball back at 1:21.

Enough time was on the clock for the Blazers to get a drive going. Malashevich and Bullard caught passes to reach the 19. VSU went backwards on a hold, but Malashevich got back the yardage and more on a 19-yarder that landed them at the 10.

VSU couldn’t get it into the end zone in the last 15 seconds and closed the half with a 21-yard McKay field goal to go ahead 16-3.

Hester had another banner day, three touchdowns total on 132 rushing yards (on 20 carries) and 32 receiving. Franklin carried 10 times for 84 yards and a score of his own.

Edwards completed only 14 of 28 tosses for 178 yards and one touchdown, to Hester. Malashevich had 66 receiving yards and Bullard had 62.

Valdosta State’s defense held the Golden Bears to 83 rushing yards. Miles’ longest run went for 14 yards. Elder had 10 tackles with a sack. The Blazers broke up six passes, holding Ivory to just 22 completions on 41 attempts.