VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State Blazers return home after a 21-10 win at Mississippi College on Saturday to host Shorter for Homecoming 2023 today at 3 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. The Blazers enter 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Gulf South Conference play, while Shorter is 3-4 overall and 1-3 in league play. This will be the final meeting with Shorter in the GSC as the Hawks will be leaving the league to be a football independent in 2024, and then join Conference Carolinas in 2025 when the league adds football as a sponsored sport.

Shorter’sHawks enter the game with a 3-4 record overall and a 1-3 mark in the GSC as they downed Clark Atlanta in a non-conference game this past Saturday, 19-13 in overtime. SU trailed at halftime 10-0, before outscoring the Panthers 13-3 in the second half to force overtime.

In the overtime session Shorter got a strip-sack fumble by DJ Walker on Clark’s first possession and then the Hawks needed just one play on a 25-yard scamper Lanear McCrary, Jr., for the winning touchdown. This season, the Hawks are under the direction of sixth-year head coach and SU alum Zach Morrison. He is 12-43 at Shorter and 0-5 all-time against VSU. Morrison’s squad enters the week seventh nationally and tops in the GSC in red zone offense at a .938 clip, while the team is tops in the GSC in punt returns at a 19.67 clip for fourth nationally.

SU has two defensive touchdowns this season to tie for the league-lead , while the team is third in the league in completion percentage at a .628 clip as VSU leads the league with a .711 average. Individually, Trey Thomas leads the team with a punt return touchdown and is fifth in the GSC in combined kick returns with 216 yards. Thomas is 18th nationally and second in the league in passes defended per game (1.4).

Offensively, Joshua Brown is third in the GSC and 35th nationally in completion percentage (.617) as Blazer junior Sammy Edwards leads the league with a .709 average. Brown is fifth in the league in completions per game (14.71), while he is sixth in passing yards (984), sixth in passing yards per game (140.6) and eighth in passing yards per completion (9.55).

On the ground, Justus Durrant leads the team with five rushing scores for third in the league, while Jaiden Dollard leads the team with 316 yards rushing. Defensively, Marc Harris leads the GSC in total tackles per game at a 7.3 clip as he has 51 tackles with 3.5 TFLs, one sack and one interception.

Valdosta State is 11-0 all-time against Shorter and defeated the Hawks twice last season, once in Rome, Ga., and in the season finale in Valdosta. VSU battled back from a 17-3 deficit at halftime in the game in Rome, for a 34-30 victory as VSU outscored the Hawks 31-13 in the second half.

The Blazers scored a touchdown on their sixth-straight opening possession for the early 7-0 lead and then MC coughed up the ball on the goal line on its first possession of the game as VSU held a 7-0 lead through the first quarter and pushed the lead to 21-3 at halftime. VSU had three rushing touchdowns in the game as junior G’Mone Wilson went for 114 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown to lead the team as he earned GSC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Edwards went 24 of 29 passing for 185 yards and scored a touchdown on the ground. Junior Eric Watts had 74 yards on ten carries and one touchdown. Junior wide receiver Council Allen had a season-high ten catches in the game for 45 yards. Defensively, VSU held the Choctaws to 1 of 4 on fourth down for the game, while graduate student Kyle Cass had his third interception in the last two games, returning this one 38 yards, while recording the fumble recovery in the end zone for the Blazers.

Combined with their perfect record against Shorter, the Blazers are tough at homecoming. VSU is 34-6 all-time on Homecoming and have won 20 of the past 22 Homecoming games since 2000, including a 37-6 win over Shorter in 2014.