VALDOSTA, Ga. – Valdosta State senior quarterback Sammy Edwards and graduate student defensive back Larry Elder were named Gulf South Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, the conference office announced Monday.  
 
This is the first weekly honor of the season for both Edwards and Elder.  West Alabama kicker Elijah Guyton earned Special Teams accolades this week.  Edwards and Elder helped lead the No. 6/7 Blazers to a thrilling 42-10 victory over Albany State on Saturday evening at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium in the season-opener for both teams.
 
Edwards, a native of Saint Augustine, Fla., began the 2024 campaign right where he left off last season, as he threw for four touchdowns and ran for one Saturday.  He was 18 of 25 passing for 306 yards and four TD passes, while he had three carries for five yards and a touchdown.  Edwards' 306 yards marked the seventh time in his career he has thrown over 300 yards and his fifth game of throwing and running for at least one touchdown.  Edwards had a 72% completion percentage for the game marked the third-best completion percentage game for him in his career as a starter as he improved to 13-2 in starts as a Blazer.
 
Elder, a Richmond, Va., native, finished his first game in a Blazer uniform with a team-high nine total tackles and five solo stops in the Blazers' 42-10 win over Albany State in the season-opener for both teams.  Elder was everywhere on the field and had 0.5 tackles for loss, along with one breakup.  Elder and the Blazer "D" held ASU to just 318 yards of offense and just 217 through the air and held ASU to a 3.2 average on the ground.
 
The Blazers make their first road trip of the season on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Newberry College in Newberry, S.C., in the first matchup between the two teams since Sept. 8, 2011.  Fans can access links to audio/video streaming, radio, live stats, tickets and more at vstateblazers.com on the football schedule page.