MELBOURNE, Fla. - Valdosta State built a double-digit second half lead and withstood a comeback bid by Florida Tech as the 25th-ranked Blazers defeated the Panthers 31-29 in Gulf South Conference football action at Pirate Stadium Saturday evening.

With the victory, Valdosta State improved to 8-2 on the season and 5-2 in Gulf South Conference action while Florida Tech fell to 6-5 and 3-4 in league action.

Cedric O'Neal scored a pair of second half touchdowns, the second of which came with 8:36 to go in the game to put Valdosta State in front 31-16. Florida Tech got to within eight points just over two minutes later when Gary Holmes took a hand-off, spun off a tackle at the line of scrimmage and raced 44 yards for a score.

Valdosta State was forced to punt on its ensuing possession and appeared to have the Panthers backed up as, after a sack, FIT faced a third-and-17 on its own 20. However, Gabe Hughes hauled in a Mark Cato pass and broke a tackle before out-racing the VSU defense for an 80-yard touchdown that pulled Florida Tech to within two points with 2:15 remaining. The Panthers appeared to even the game as Cato hooked up with Xavier Milton on a pass, but a penalty for an ineligible player down field on the play negated the try and a second pass attempt was incomplete.

Valdosta State recovered the ensuing on-side kick to seal the victory.

Florida Tech got on the board first in the game as Josh Davidson kicked a 24-yard field goal just over four minutes into the contest while the Blazers evened the game with a 43-yard try by Anthony Pistelli two and a half minutes later.

A Cato two-yard run with 13:27 to go in the first half gave the Panthers their final lead of the night, although Tevin Davis blocked the extra point attempt to keep the VSU deficit to six points. Eight minutes later, O'Neal scored his first of three touchdowns on the game on a one-yard run while Austin Scott pushed the Valdosta State lead to 17-9 with a 29-yard run with 2:43 to play in the half.

Valdosta State dominated the third quarter as it out-gained FIT 121 to 30 in the quarter, but managed just a two-yard touchdown run by O'Neal with eight seconds remaining in the frame. Milton caught a 44-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter while O'Neal added a 21-yard run for a score for VSU's final run.

Florida Tech held a 505 to 418 advantage in total yards in the game, including a 310 to 213 advantage in passing yards. Meanwhile, the Blazers out-gained FIT 205 to 195 on the ground.

Scott led the Blazers with 96 rushing yards on 18 carries while O'Neal had 77 yards to go along with his three touchdowns. Nobles completed 19 of his 30 passes for 213 yards and also rushed for 33 yards.

Roshmel Young caught six passes for 92 yards in the game while Chris Anderson also had six receptions. Duran Lowe had 10 tackles for the Black Swarm defense, which tallied three sacks and three turnovers in the game. Kenny Murphy was just behind with eight tackles, including a sack, and also recovered a fumble, as did Cooper Lemonds, while Larry Murphy intercepted a pass.

Cato completed just 15 of his 34 passes while Hughes finished with four catches for 143 yards and Milton four receptions for 105 yards. Holmes carried the ball seven times for 106 yards.

Valdosta State awaits word on whether or not it will advance to the NCAA Playoffs. The announcement will be made Sunday at 5:00 p.m.