VALDOSTA, Ga.- Valdosta State football graduate student Alfonso Franklin and Lady Blazer basketball sophomore Erin Whalen were named this week's Steel's Jewelry Blazer Athletes of the Week. This marks Franklin's second award of the year while it is Whalen's first weekly honor of the 2024-25 season.
 
Franklin proved to be a thorn in the side of Minnesota State's defense in the 35-21 victory over the Mavericks in the NCAA Division II Football semifinals at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium last Saturday. In VSU's 13^th straight win of the 2024 season, Franklin rushed for a team-best 152 yards on 24 carries for 6.3 yards a carry, finding the endzone three times on the ground. He also led the team in receiving yards with four catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns, bringing his touchdown total to five on the afternoon. The elusive back's defining play came just after the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter as Franklin put the game on ice with a 24-yard touchdown run to send the Blazers to the Championship game, 35-21.
 
Whalen continued to expand and grow her game last week in the hard-fought 64-62 loss to West Florida on Sunday evening. In an all-around solid performance from the sophomore guard, Whalen scored a team-high 15 points on 6-11 shooting from the floor, 0-1 from beyond the arc and a near-perfect 3 of 4 from the free-throw line. The high-motored guard also muscled her way for 10 total rebounds, bringing home her second double-double of the season thus far. She also tacked on two assists and a team-best four steals in the contest.
 
Franklin and the Blazer football team are set to square off with familiar foe, Ferris State on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in McKinney, Texas with the program's fifth National Championship on the line. The game is set to be broadcasted on ESPN2 and will also be available through the ESPN App. Meanwhile, Whalen and the Lady Blazer basketball team have a busy week on their hands, hosting conference-newcomer Trevecca Nazarene on Thursday at 6 p.m. before taking on GSC-rival Lee on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. For more information on all things VSU athletics, visit vstateblazers.com.