PENSACOLA, Fla. – With 42 seconds remaining and trailing 28-24, Valdosta State junior quarterback Sammy Edwards and sophomore Ted Hurst stamped their names in VSU football lore with a 28-yard touchdown reception for Hurst as VSU pulled out a thrilling, 31-28, come-from-behind victory at No. 8/18 West Florida Saturday afternoon.
 
VSU turned the Argos over on downs with 4:01 to play as Edwards hit graduate student B.K. Smith for 16 yards, again for eight on a second down and then 10 on a fourth and one at the VSU 48 to keep the drive alive.  VSU had a 4^th and 5 from the UWF 37 with 1:12 to go.  Edwards found junior Council Allen for nine yards and then the dart to the end zone where the 6-4 Hurst climbed the ladder over his defender in the end zone for the score with 36 seconds to play. VSU had not held the lead in the game to that point.
 
The Blazers feverishly held on in the final ticks as UWF moved down to the VSU 34 as Griffin Cerra's 51-yard field goal was wide right as time expired.  Hurst finished with six catches for 84 yards and one touchdown, while Edwards was 20 of 32 passing for 275 yards, one touchdown and he had one rushing score as well.
 
VSU snapped a five-game skid against ranked opponents, since a 34-31 victory over Colorado School of Mines on Dec. 11, 2021, in the national semifinals in Valdosta.  VSU and UWF now are tied 2-2 when both teams are ranked in series history as VSU improved to 5-3 all-time against the Argos.
 
The Blazers, who entered ranked No. 24 in both the D2Football.com Top 25 and the American Football Coaches Association Top 2 (AFCA), improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in Gulf South Conference play, while UWF fell to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in league play.  In what has become a great rivalry in the Gulf South Conference, the Blazers snapped a three-game skid to the Argos and handed UWF its first home loss since a 45-42 setback to Delta State last season in double overtime on Sept. 24, 2022, ending eight-straight wins by the Argos at Pen Air Field. 
 
For the game, VSU finished with 272 yards of offense with 275 through the air, but minus-3 on the ground.  UWF had 444 yards for the game with 196 passing as quarterback Peewee Jarrett was 13 of 29 passing with one interception and two touchdowns.  He also had 17 carries for 120 yards on the ground.  Blazer graduate student B.K. Smith had eight catches for 151 yards to lead the team.  UWF's John Jiles had five receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Defensively, the Blazers forced UWF into two turnovers while not committing a miscue.  Graduate student Jacob Harris had 14 total tackles with 11 solo stops, while he had one fumble return for three yards and a touchdown.  Graduate student Nick Jackson finished with eight solo tackles and an interception.  VSU punter sophomore Noah Botsford had a season-high seven punts for a 46.3 yard average and a long of 52 yards, with one inside the 20 and one over 50 yards as he turned field position on numerous occasions Saturday.
 
UWF won the toss and deferred.  The Blazers took the ball and went three-and-out as it marked the first time since the opening game of the season VSU didn't score a touchdown on its opening drive. 
 
The Argos converted two third and long plays from Jarrett using his feet for one and a pass for 16 yards to Caden Leggett.  He hit Jiles for a touchdown from 20-yards out and a 7-0 lead with 9:25 left in the first quarter. 
 
After another three-and-out for the Blazers, UWF had a 4^th and seven from the VSU 42 late in the quarter, but an offsides penalty made it 4^th and 2.  Jarrett got the first on a keeper and then on another fourth down, Jarrett picked up the fresh set of downs to end the quarter.
 
The Blazers had 0 yards on six plays in the first quarter, while UWF had 21 plays for 118 yards for the quarter as VSU had just 2:43 minutes of possession time in the quarter.
 
Heading into the second quarter, UWF scored on the ground for a 14-0 lead on a rush from Jamontez Woods with 14:10 left in the half.  VSU then got its first, first down of the game as Edwards hit B.K. Smith for a first down, but the drive stalled.  Botsford pinned UWF at its eight.  A handoff to Woods was fumbled and graduate student Jacob Harris picked it up and scored for a 14-7 deficit, giving the Blazers new life.  It marked the first defensive touchdown of the season for the Blazers.
 
The Blazer "D" forced the first three-and-out for the Argos and Edwards hit Smith for 51-yards to the UWF 1.  Sophomore Bud Chaney quickly scored for a 14-14 score with 9:50 left in the half. 
 
Following a punt from UWF, Botsford returned the favor in kind getting VSU out of deep in its territory, but Jarrett hooked up with Jiles for his second long touchdown reception and a 21-14 score with 3:14 to play.
 
The Blazers did not sweat, however, as Edwards found junior Council Allen for 12 and then a big catch and run to Hurst for 35 yards and Smith for 15 yards to the UWF 5.  Edwards scored on a scramble for a 21-21 score at the break.
 
For the half, Edwards was 10 of 14 passing for 161 yards, while Jarrett was 6 of 14 for 109 yards.  VSU had 21 plays for 154 yards, while UWF had 40 plays for 228 yards.  UWF held VSU to minus-7 yards rushing for the half, while the Argos had 119 yards on the ground.
 
UWF took the ball to open the second half, but Jackson came up with a huge interception on the UWF sideline on the initial possession of the second half.  Following punts by both teams, UWF took the ball and used three personal foul penalties on the Blazers to move to the VSU 11.  The Blazer "D" stiffened and Griffin Cerra missed a 24-yard field goal with 4:44 left in the quarter.
 
Early in the fourth, UWF's C.J. Wilson went 29 yards for a touchdown and a 28-21 lead for the Argos. VSU moved to the UWF 31 highlighted by a big pass to Hurst and one to Smith.  Edwards was sacked on third and 7 from the UWF 25 as senior kicker Estin Thiele nailed a 48-yard field goal for a 28-24 deficit with 9:47 to play.  It was his second longest field goal of his career as he hit a 50-yarder during the 2021 season.
 
The resilient Blazer defense, once again, came up huge to keep within striking distance as UWF moved down to the VSU 22 for a 4^th and 1.  This time, Jarrett tried to rush for the first, but was stymied behind the line by junior Kennedy Parker for a turnover on downs with 4:01 to go setting up the wild finish.
 
VSU continues on the road next week as it travels to West Alabama for a 2 p.m. ET kick in Livingston, Ala.