10
Warner WU 0-1 , 0-0
59
Winner Valdosta St. VSU 2-0 , 0-0
Warner WU
0-1 , 0-0
10
Final
59
Valdosta St. VSU
2-0 , 0-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
WU Warner 0 0 10 0 10
VSU Valdosta St. 7 17 28 7 59
FTBL Recap Warner
RUNNING WILD: Champ Harris finding open space in the 59-10 victory on Thursday night.

Game Recap: Football | | Trinity Thomas

No. 15 Blazers Conquer Royals

VALDOSTA, Ga. -  The Valdosta State Blazers used a 28-point flourish in the third quarter to put away the Warner Royals on Thursday night at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

On their second drive of the game, the Blazers faced a third and medium, Quarterback Champ Harris stepped back and launched one down the field to Leon Washington, Jr. for a first down.

A play later, Harris found Samuel Curry III to get to the Royal 25. Then Harris hit Chance Black for a 17-yard gain to the Warner 8. Following a personal foul on the Royals, Harris called his own number and ran it in for the first score of the game.

During the next VSU possession, a fumble from Shawn Paschall put Warner in excellent field position. However, the Blazer defense held strong and forced a field goal, which went wide.

After a punt from VSU to end the first quarter. Curtis Janvier took matters into his own hands, as he stripped the ball from the quarterback's hands and gave the Blazers the ball at the Royal 33.

The offense wasted no time getting the ball to the one-yard line, but the Warner defense refused to break as they stopped Harris three straight times to force a turnover on downs.

Following a three-and-out, the Blazers got the ball at the Warner 40. On third and short, Harris made his way to the outside to the nine for a first down. Then Matt Wilson finished off the drive with a touchdown, extending the lead to 14.

On the ensuing Royal drive, VSU got their second turnover of the day from Janvier who made a house call, making it a three-score game.

The Blazers forced a turnover on downs on the next Warner possession, giving the offense another short field to work with. The Royals defense held the line, as Brett Fitzgerald came out for a 37-yarder, which went through. Pushing it to a 24-0 lead.

After forcing another turnover on downs, the offense headed back out. Under a minute to go, Harris gashed the defense once again, going right up the gut for a 19-yard gain. However, a sack a couple of plays later stalled out the drive, bringing out the field goal unit.

Fitzgerald lined up for a 46-yard field goal, but the attempt was no good as VSU headed into the locker room with a 24-0 lead.

The second half got off to a rocky start, as the Blazers went three-and-out on their first possession. On the punt, the ball was snapped past the punter, heading out of the end zone for a Royals safety.

However, momentum went back to the Blazers as LaBarryon Moore made a diving interception giving VSU ample position in Warner territory.

Taking advantage of a pair of offside penalties on third down to get into the red zone, the Blazers gave the ball to Kenai Grier who muscled his way in for six.

VSU soon got on a roll, as Grier added on another touchdown and later Solomon Locke hit pay dirt as well to push the lead to 43.

However, the Royals did strike back on the next drive, with a 54-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion which brought the lead to 35. But, the Blazers came right back as Black pushed to the outside for a 46-yard touchdown before the end of the quarter.

In the final quarter, VSU put one last touchdown on the board, as Valdosta High School alum Tyrieke Wade took over at quarterback and engineered a drive which ended in him hitting Chris Lawson, Jr. for his first career touchdown pass.

From there, the Blazers closed out the game, coming away with the 59-10 victory.

Harris finished 7-17 for 52 yards, while also running for 55 yards and a touchdown. Black led all rushers with 59 yards and a touchdown and Washington, Jr and Malik Franklin both had four receptions, with Washington, Jr having 41 yards receiving.

Defensively, VSU held the Royals to only 180 yards of total offense, with three takeaways and holding Warner to just 2 of 15 on third down.

The Blazers now take a 2-0 record to North Carolina, as they will face Fayetteville State in their next contest on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m.

Stay up to date on all Blazer Athletics news by downloading the Blazer mobile app for exclusive content, gameday notifications, schedules, rosters and more. Fans can also follow @VState_Blazers on Instagram and X and like the Valdosta State Blazers Facebook page.
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Scoring Summary

Scoring Summary
Scoring Play Visiting Team Score Home Team Score
1st Quarter WU VSU
VSU
08:11 - VSU - Harris,Hezekiah 4 yd run (Fitzgerald,Brett kick), 7 plays, 51 yards, TOP 03:04
0 7
2nd Quarter WU VSU
VSU
08:43 - VSU - Wilson,Matthew 9 yd run (Fitzgerald,Brett kick), 4 plays, 36 yards, TOP 01:30
0 14
VSU
05:26 - VSU - Fitzgerald,Brett 37 yd field goal 4 plays, 2 yards, TOP 01:26
0 24
3rd Quarter WU VSU
WU
13:07 - WU - 0 yd safety
2 24
VSU
10:35 - VSU - Grier,Kenai 17 yd run (Fitzgerald,Brett kick), 4 plays, 27 yards, TOP 01:50
2 31
VSU
09:15 - VSU - Grier,Kenai 8 yd run (Fitzgerald,Brett kick), 2 plays, 24 yards, TOP 00:15
2 38
VSU
04:50 - VSU - Locke,Solomon 2 yd run (Fitzgerald,Brett kick), 6 plays, 50 yards, TOP 03:42
2 45
WU
03:50 - WU - Jones,Eric 54 yd run (Dudley,Joshua rush), 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:00
10 45
VSU
00:43 - VSU - Black,Chance 46 yd run (Fitzgerald,Brett kick), 8 plays, 71 yards, TOP 02:28
10 52
4th Quarter WU VSU
VSU
12:04 - VSU - Lawson Jr.,Chris 14 yd pass from Wade,Tyrieke (Fitzgerald,Brett kick) 4 plays, 52 yards, TOP 01:41
10 59

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