Terrance Wolfolk

Wildcats Aim to Surprise RV Maroon Tigers

10/25/2018 2:04:00 PM

By: Chris Myers

FORT VALLEY, Ga. – After home was not quite an advantage over the past weeks, the Wildcats seek to reverse the trend on the road Saturday. Fort Valley State aims to bring some early tricks and spoil the Morehouse College Homecoming.

The next meeting in the FVSU-Morehouse series is set for a 2 p.m. kick-off in Atlanta at B.T. Harvey Stadium.

Spoil Hopes of Title Game
The Wildcats (1-7/1-3 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference East) can play the spoiler role this week, an usual role after being in the past two Conference Championship games themselves. FVSU can give a big blow to Morehouse's hopes of qualifying for this year's title tilt. The Maroon Tigers (7-1) are 3-1 in the East, tied with Benedict, which they defeated last weekend, but one game behind Albany State at 4-0.

A potential FVSU win would all but eliminate Morehouse since Albany State won its meeting earlier in the season with one week left to play.

FVSU Recent Series Success
Fort Valley State has recent success in the series against Morehouse the past six years. The Wildcats are 5-1 since the 2012 meeting and 2-1 playing in Atlanta over that time period.

FVSU has claimed the past three meetings, including a going away 52-7 win in Fort Valley last Oct. 28 where it scored the only 35 points of the third quarter and all 42 points of the second half.

Two years ago in Atlanta, the Wildcats posted a tighter 24-16 decision. The last Maroon Tigers win in the series came on Nov. 1 of 2014 at home when they won 24-21.

Five of 10 Regionally-Ranked Teams
In a tough year, FVSU does has one fact it can claim. The Wildcats have faced five of the 10 NCAA Division II's Region 2 Regionally-Ranked teams. Morehouse will be the fourth such team and fifth to come next week in Albany State.

Super Region Two Rankings (10/21)
                                        In Region/Overall
1. West Georgia          8-0/8-0
2. Valdosta State       8-0/8-0
3. Lenoir-Rhyne         7-1/7-1
4. Florida Tech                        6-2/6-2
5. Bowie State             5-1/6-1
6. Carson-Newman     5-2/5-2
7. Morehouse             6-1/6-1
8. Virginia Union         5-2/5-2
9. Tuskegee                5-1/5-2
10. Albany State        5-3/5-3

Teams Comparable Results
Despite FVSU's less than impressive season record, Saturday's game has the characteristics of being a good one. FVSU and Morehouse have three common opponents between them and both have had three close games in those contests.

Both teams have played Miles, Benedict and Tuskegee at this point in the season. The Wildcats have went 1-2 against those three foes with the scoring margin being 47-64 (W at Miles 21-19, L at Benedict 20-28 and L vs. Tuskegee 6-17). The Maroon Tigers are 3-0 against the same teams with a margin of 67-55 (W vs. Miles 23-21, W vs. Tuskegee 30-24 and W at Benedict 14-10). The FVSU have seen a 5.67-point margin, while Morehouse's were slightly closer at 4.0 points per game.

Third Opponent in National Ranks
For the second week in a row and third overall, the Wildcats battle a ranked opponent. After hosting and having opportunities for the upset against now No. 24 Lenoir-Rhyne, FVSU lines up against the Receiving Votes Morehouse, which garnered 13 votes in this week's American Football Coaches Association Top 25.

FVSU also played No. 7 Valdosta State in Week 2 on a neutral field in Waycross, Ga.

Wildcats Had Opportunities, but Upset Bid Fell Short
At the campus Homecoming, FVSU had opportunities last week, but could not pull off the upset of nationally-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne.

Trailing 13-7 at half, the Wildcats scored the opening 12 points on a pair of touchdowns in the first 7:51 to pull ahead 19-13. The home lead, though, lasted only 14 seconds when the Bears returned the ensuing kick-off 90 yards for the touchdown and never trailed again.

FVSU had its chances of regaining the lead, but the two chances never materialized. The Wildcats had a tackle eligible down to the LR 2-yardline called back as an illegal forward pass. The FVSU defense on the next trip to the field forced a fumble on the Lenoir-Rhyne 3-yardline and appeared to have the recovery only to have the ball awarded to the visiting team. Abisai Gutierrez did make a 21-yard field goal with 4:52 left in the game, but FVSU never touched the ball again for the 30-22 final.

Young Posts Most Tackles of Season
Junior strong safety Cameron Young continued to show his prowess last weekend. Young recorded the highest single-game tackle total with 20, including 12 solo, against Lenoir-Rhyne. He added a forced fumble.

On the year, Young has already surpassed his 2017 tackle total with 72 this year to his credit, 44 solo. He also has 2.5 tackles for loss, an interception against Tuskegee, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.

Smothers Could Not Be Smothered
Sophomore slotback Lorenzo Smothers was held without a first-half catch last week, but could not be covered in the second 30 minutes of play. Smothers pulled in a pair of 63-yard grabs with the first going for a score, before he appeared to make it two only to lose his balance on a wet turf at the one-yardline on the second. His third catch went for 27 yards.

On the day, Smothers totaled 221 all-purpose yards. Along with his 140 receiving yards, he rushed one time for eight yards, returned a punt for seven yards and one kick return for 66 yards.
With two big final games, Smothers is within reach of 1,000 yards receiving. He stands at 655 yards on 38 grabs for a 17.2-yard average with three touchdowns at 93.6 yards per game.

Maroon Tigers Defense Save the Day
Morehouse took advantage of a pair of defensive scores to spearhead its close 14-10 at Benedict last Saturday afternoon. The Maroon Tigers returned the home Tigers opening back for a score on a 10-yard fumble recovery only 1:32 into the day. Morehouse added a muffed punt snap by the Benedict punter five yards for the second score and also blocked a kick in the 14-10 win.
Morehouse held Benedict to 192 yards of total offense.

Morehouse Offense Combo
The Morehouse offense revolves around the combo of running back Santo Dunn and quarterback Michael Sims. Dunn has rushed for 696 yards on 108 rushes for a solid 6.4-yard per carry average with 10 touchdowns to his credit. Along with rushing for 296 yards, Sims has thrown for another 1,522 yards on 133 completions in 227 attempts with 12 scores to only three interceptions.

29^th Fountain City Classic
It will be the 29^th edition of the big rivalry between Albany State and Fort Valley State on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 3. The annual Fountain City Classic will once again be held in Columbus, Ga.

-Wildcats-

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Wildcats Aim to Surprise RV Maroon Tigers