MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Valdosta State football team suffered 38-20 a Gulf South Conference loss at the hands of the Florida Tech Panthers, following a tough offensive night on FIT's home turf in Melbourne, Fla. on Saturday night.
The Blazer offense was held 200 yards shy of their 447.6-yard season average in the contest, but the Black Swarm defense kept the contest close for most of the night after delivering a host of key stops and two defensive scores.
FIT jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after capitalizing on their opening possession with a 7-play, 80-yard drive. Antwuan Haynes and Gary Holmes teamed up for a majority of the yardage on the scoring drive, which proved to be an indication of things to come, particularly with Haynes, who went on to finish the night with 197-rushing yards.
Valdosta State's offense managed to contain Mark Cato's passing game, as they held the quarterback to just five completions and even forced a first-half interception that was returned by
Egim Etta-Tawo for a touchdown.
The 345 rushing yards for FIT in the game proved to be problematic all night, but another costly Florida Tech turnover early in the fourth quarter led to a fumble recovery for a touchdown by VSU's
Jamar Simpkins and tied the game at 17-17. The Black Swarm held FIT at bay yet again on the ensuing drive, but Tyler Rosenblatt recorded his first of two second-half interceptions to halt the Blazers' opportunity to take the lead.
The Panthers converted the turnover into a touchdown on the following drive before the Blazers quickly fired back with a long kickoff return by
Gary Simon. The return put the Blazers in Panther territory at the 35-yard line, but VSU's offense was forced to settle for a field goal, which made the score 24-20 and represented Valdosta State's for their final points of the night.
The loss dropped the Blazers to 6-2 overall, 4-2 in GSC play. Meanwhile, the Panthers boosted their record to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
Valdosta State continues their challenging road stretch next Saturday, Nov. 5th, with another big GSC matchup against the West Alabama Tigers in Livingston, Ala. Kickoff is slated for 3:00 p.m. EST.
