VALDOSTA, Ga. - After a bye week, the Valdosta State Blazers return home to face Erskine College on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium for the Pink Out. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game.

The Blazers are currently ranked 16th in the D2 Football poll, 18th in the AFCA poll and 24th in the Flo College poll.
 
VSU is coming off their first loss of the season in a close 44-41 loss to UNC-Pembroke on Sept. 19

Shawn Paschall put on a show against the Braves, rushing the ball 11 times for a career-high 155 yards and two touchdowns, while also being a threat on kickoff return, returning the ball six times for 141 yards with a long of 52. For his dynamic performance, Paschall won GSC Offensive Player of the Week after his stellar day.

Champ Harris went 11-for-22 for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Joel Houedenou led the Blazers in receiving, catching four passes for 84 yards and a score.

As a team this season, VSU is outscoring opponents 176 to 73 and is averaging 442.3 yards a game with 263.8 yards on the ground and 178.5 yards through the air. 

The Blazer defense continues to find ways to get involved in the game. Julius Pascal had an electric day, tallying eight tackles, half a sack, a pass breakup and an 84-yard pick-six. Winning GSC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Jabari McMillan also made an impact, racking up seven tackles and a sack, earning GSC Freshman of the Week for the second week in a row. Rickey Ransom had five tackles, half a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Ashton Heflin ended with seven tackles and half a tackle for loss. The Blazer defense has held opponents to only 18.25 points a game and 301.5 yards a game. The Blazer defense has also forced seven fumbles with four recoveries and five interceptions this season.

Special teams also made a difference, as Lucas Edenfield punted the ball three times, with a long of 62 and a punt landing inside the 20. Adrian Gonzalez went perfect on extra points, going two-for-two and kicked the ball off seven times for 414 yards and four touchbacks, averaging 59.1 yards a kickoff. Brett Fitzgerald went three-of-four on extra points.


Scouting the Flying Fleet 
Erskine enters Saturday's contest with a 2-2 record, falling to Shorter (Ga.) in their conference opener last week 31-24.

The Flying Fleet lives up to their name as the passing game is the backbone of their offense, as they average 228.5 yards a game through the air while scoring 34.25 points a game.

On offense, the man under center is sophomore Ryan Killmer. So far this season, he's completed 45.3 percent of his passes for 855 yards and nine touchdowns to two interceptions.
 
The two main targets for Killmer are receivers Jo Burson and Siah Mack. Burson has caught 16 passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns, while Mack has tallied 13 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown.

Erskine's defense is led by redshirt junior Gary Maddox III, who leads the team in tackles with 36 and tackles for loss with six and a half. He has forced three fumbles this season and recovered one.

Behind him is redshirt sophomore Weston Bergman with 27, and true sophomores Damontia Duff and Skyler Vega with 24 and 20 respectively.
 
The Blazers won the only meeting between the two, with a dominant 73-0 win in 2024.

Kickoff will be at 4 p.m.

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