VALDOSTA, Ga.- An excellent performance from junior quarterback Sammy Edwards and the Blazer offense propelled No. 14-ranked Valdosta State past Limestone in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs 62-41 at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, Saturday afternoon. 
 
VSU improved to 11-1 on the year and marked the first playoff victory for the Blazers since 2021, and the first overall postseason victory for head coach Tremaine Jackson in his career as a head coach. The Blazers improved to 30-14 all-time in the NCAA postseason and 21-7 all-time in the postseason in Valdosta.   
 
The Blazers now will head to Cleveland, Miss., to take on GSC-foe No. 8-ranked Delta State in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 25.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for a time of Saturday's game early next week.
 
Edwards excellent play in the passing game made history as he threw the most touchdown passes in a Valdosta State playoff game with six total passing touchdowns, passing past record-holder Dusty Bonner, who previously set the record with five TD's on Nov. 17, 2001. Edwards had a total of 352 passing yards with 28 completions on 41 attempts, and a season-record tying six touchdowns.  Junior Council Allen finished the game with a team-high 106 receiving yards on six receptions and two touchdowns, marking a season best for Allen.  Redshirt-freshman Rodney Bullard also had a notable game, pulling in two touchdowns on five receptions for 52 yards. 
 
The Blazers also had a notable game on the ground, rushing for 233 total yards, which is the most VSU has had since the week two matchup against Albany State (285 yards). Leading the charge in the run game was sophomore Bud Chaney, who rushed for a season-high 132 yards on 14 attempts and one touchdown. Chaney also had his longest run of the season on the first play of the game with a 32-yard scamper right up the middle.  Sophomore Isaiah Flowers and junior Eric Watts ended the game with a combined 81 yards and a touchdown, further adding to the Blazers' great day running the ball. 
 
Defensively, the Blazers were led in tackles by junior La'Ken Nettles with seven while redshirt-freshman Tyler Morehead and junior Jaylin Mobley led the team in sacks, tallying one apiece. On the backend, graduate student Nick Jackson had one interception while graduate student Kyle Cass was credited with three breakups. 
 
The Saints finished the season at 8-4 on the year and tallied 498 yards of offense in the contest, including 305 through the air and 193 yards on the ground.  Quarterback Dustin Noller went 21 of 37 passing for 305 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.  Doug Washington had three catches for 97 yards and one touchdown, while Jelani Baker had five catches for 59 yards and two scores. In the ground game, Preston Lounds led the way for the Saints with 83 yards on 11 attempts while Tre Stewart totaled 72 yards on nine attempts. 
 
Limestone won the toss and deferred to the second half which brought the Blazer offense on the field to start the playoff matchup. VSU answered the call early as Chaney got the Blazers going with a massive 32-yard run to put Valdosta State in Limestone territory early. Edwards then zipped a pass over the middle to Bullard for an 18-yard touchdown reception to open scoring in favor of the Blazers, 7-0 with 13:07 left in the quarter. 
 
Later in the quarter, the Blazer defense came up big as Morehead sacked Noller at the Limestone 27-yard line to force a fumble which was picked up by sophomore DeVon Reaves. The Limestone turnover ended up giving the ball right back to the Blazer offense at the Limestone 15-yardline with 8:22 left to play in the first. 
 
Despite getting the ball in the red zone, the Saints defense continued to push the Blazer offense back, leading to 3^rd and 23 from the Limestone 28-yard line. Just in the nick of time, Edwards avoided the pressure of the Saints' defense as he lobbed the ball to Allen downfield for a 28-yard touchdown, putting the Blazers up 14-0 with 7:06 left in the quarter. 
 
In the final minutes of the first quarter, the VSU offense received the ball once again after the Blazer defense got another key stop. The Blazers made their way down to the Saints territory quickly before facing a 4^th and 3 at the Limestone 31-yardline. On fourth and short, Edwards ended up throwing a dart to junior Kam Scott for a 31-yard touchdown reception, giving Edwards his third passing touchdown of the afternoon in just one quarter of action, 21-0. 
 
At the start of the second quarter, the VSU defense forced a quick three-and-out to bring the red-hot Blazer offense back on the field. The Blazers hummed down the field on a mixture of short passes and runs. On 3^rd and three from the Limestone 29-yardline, Edwards delivered his fourth touchdown pass of the day, finding Allen in the end zone once again for a 29-yard strike as the Blazers led 28-0 with 12:16 left in the half. 
 
Late in the second quarter, Limestone's offense kicked into high gear, dinking and dunking its way down the field. The Blazers looked to have had a stop on fourth and seven at the VSU 21-yardline but a costly defensive pass interference call gave the Saints life. With a fresh set of downs at the VSU six-yard line, Noller hit Jelani Baker on a screen for a quick touchdown to cut the Blazer lead to 21, at 28-7 with 4:34 left until halftime. 
 
With the clock ticking down to halftime, the Blazers battled down the field, looking to respond to the Limestone touchdown. Valdosta State moved all the way to the Limestone 23-yardline before attempting to kick a field goal with a little over four second remaining. The attempt ended up being blocked before Limestone was called for a defensive offsides penalty. On a re-kick, graduate student Estin Thiele knocked it through to give VSU a 31-7 lead at halftime. 
 
At the start of the second half, the stout VSU defense forced a speedy three-and-out to give the Blazers to give the offense its first possession of the half. Getting the ball around midfield, the Blazers made quick work of the Limestone defense as Chaney muscled for 24 yards in three plays to get the Blazers deeper into Limestone territory. The offense suffered a personal foul before bouncing back on a 19-yard reception from graduate student B.K. Smith. Then on third and seven, Edwards completed a pass deep downfield to sophomore Ted Hurst for a 25-yard touchdown, giving VSU a 38-7 lead with 9:33 left in the third quarter. 
 
On the next drive, the Saints looked to strike back as Preston Lounds muscled his way down the field to the Valdosta State red zone. On a dominant goal line stand at the VSU two-yard line, penalties proved to be costly for the Blazers once again as a personal foul turned a potential third down stop to a fresh set of downs for Limestone at the Valdosta State goal line. Noller ended up hitting Herman McCray on a two-yard screen for a touchdown before the Blazer defense made a tremendous stop on a two-point attempt to hold the lead to 25 at 38-13 with 6:49 left in the third quarter. 
 
Later in the third quarter, Limestone got the ball back after a fairly uneventful drive from the VSU offense. Noller began slinging the ball all over the field before hitting Doug Washington on a 40-yard touchdown pass to cut the Blazer lead to 18, 38-20 with 3:05 left in the third quarter. 
 
The Blazers marched right back down the field on the next drive, dinking and dunking for a little over four minutes, but the Saints defense held strong on a third and long at the Limestone 18-yard line to force VSU to take a 35-yard field goal, 41-20 with 13:33 left in the fourth quarter. 
 
As the Limestone defense continued to slow the Blazer offense, Limestone's offense continued to heat up as Noller completed four straight passes to open the Saint's first drive of the fourth quarter. Following a costly Valdosta State pass interference call, Noller hit Jelani Baker on a familiar screen pass to make the contest a two-possession game, 41-27 with 11:51 remaining in the half. 
 
Following a short Blazer offensive possession, the Limestone offense that had scored on all three of its previous drives took the field. Down only by only 14, the Saints looked to make the game a nail-biter, but that dream was cut short in the blink of an eye as Jackson picked off Noller at the VSU 46-yard line to give the ball right back to the Valdosta State offense. 
 
The offense made the most of the opportunity as a 17-yard pass to Allen set up a historical sixth touchdown from Edwards to Bullard on a 10-yard laser to put the Blazers up by 21, 48-27 with 7:18 left in the game. 
 
On the very next drive, the Blazer defense battened down the hatches, forcing three straight incompletions before Mobley came up with a clutch fourth down sack to give the ball back to the VSU offense at the Limestone 19-yardline. VSU swiftly put an exclamation mark on the matchup as Chaney rushed into the end zone from the Limestone three-yard line to put Valdosta State up 55-27 with 5:38 left in the fourth. 
 
In the closing minutes of the game, Noller completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to DJ Black to make the contest 55-34 with 3:30 remaining. From there, the Blazers and Saints both scored touchdowns in the final minutes of the game as VSU took the hard-fought playoff victory, 62-41.