Valdosta State Edge Texas A&M-Kingsville 38-31 in GSC-TV Action
Courtesy of Valdosta State Sports Informaiton
VALDOSTA, Ga. - Cedric O'Neal scored on a nine-yard run with 37 seconds remaining to lead Valdosta State to a 38-31 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville Thursday evening at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
With the win, Valdosta State completes its 2012 regular season with an 8-2 record and will enter next week's bye week waiting to see where it stands in the NCAA Super Region 2 rankings for the upcoming playoffs. Meanwhile, the Javelinas fall to 5-5 on the year.
The winning score was set up when VSU senior defensive end Tyler Josey, playing on senior night, tracked down TAMUK quarterback Bryan Ehrlich on a fourth down pass attempt and forced a fumble that was recovered by Blazer Chris Pope on the VSU 43 yard line. The sack on the play was Josey's fourth of the evening, tying a Valdosta State single game record, while the forced fumble was his third of the evening.
The Blazer offense needed just eight plays to march down the field for the winning score, six of which came from the legs of O'Neal. The freshman ran for 17 yards on the first play of the drive before picking up three more on a pair of runs in Texas A&M-Kingsville territory. After a 13-yard completion to Quin Roberson moved the ball to the TAMUK 24, O'neal gained 13 more yards on a rush. Cayden Cochran was brought down for a four-yard loss on a run, but O'Neal gained six back before scoring the go ahead points when he burst through the middle of the line.
The contest was tight throughout as neither team led by more than seven points. TAMUK got on the board first as on its first play from scrimmage, Nate Poppell found Robert Armstrong down the middle of the field for a 94-yard touchdown pass.
VSU came right back as it needed just four plays and 66 seconds to travel 75 yards to even the game at 7-7. After a pair of runs by Austin Scott netted 18 yards and an incomplete pass, Cayden Cochran hooked up with Seantavious Jones for a 57-yard scoring strike that tied the ball game.
The Blazers again used a long pass to grab their first lead on their next drive. After a Texas A&M-Kingsville punt, VSU took over on its own 35, where Cochran found Jones for a six-yard gain. Scott gained 15 yards on a pair of carries to move the ball to the Javelina 44, setting up a 44-yard pass from Cochran to Regginald Lewis that gave Valdosta State a 14-7 lead.
The Javelinas knotted the game at 14-14 when Ehrlich capped off a 13-play, 80-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run, only to have VSU regain the lead when Gerald Ford scored on a 44-yard pass with 65 seconds remaining before halftime. Matt Stoll kicked a 41-yard field goal 47 seconds later to establish a 24-17 Blazer halftime lead.
Texas A&M-Kingsville regained the lead half way through the third quarter when Ehrlich and Armstrong connected on an 18-yard scoring strike while Daniel Andersen kicked a 22-yard field goal with a little over a minute remaining in the third quarter to even the game at 24-24 heading to the final frame.
Ford put VSU back in front with a four-yard touchdown pass with 10:14 to play, a touchdown that marked his 12th scoring catch of the year, the seventh-best single season total in school history. Ehrlich once again evened the contest when he found Jake Willingham for a six-yard touchdown pass just over two minutes later for the final Javelina points of the game.
Cochran completed 24-of-37 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns in the game as the Valdosta State offense tallied 473 total yards in the contest. Lewis set new career highs with nine catches and 107 yards while Jones caught five passes for 97 yards and Ford five for 67. O'Neal recorded his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the year as he carried the ball 19 times for 110 yards.
Josey finished the game with six tackles, including the four sacks, three fumble recoveries and two quarterback hurries. Jeremy Grable added 12 tackles while Ryan Smith had 11 and an interception. Chris Pope also tallied double digit tackles with 10 while recovering a fumble and coming up with an interception.
Ehrlich was 12-of-24 passing for 224 yards and two scores while Armstrong caught four passes for 137 yards. Anthony Johnson added 72 yards rushing as the Javelina offense gained 495 total yards in the game, but was hampered by three turnovers. Jeremy Aguilar led the TAMUK defense with 12 stops, including a tackle for loss.
The pairings for the 2012 NCAA Division II playoffs will be made on Sunday, November 11.