Wildcats Host Dragons for Saturday ‘Senior Day’

10/25/2023 10:27:00 PM

By: Chris Myers

FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The Wildcats have their sights set on a perfect home run. Fort Valley State completes its home schedule Saturday afternoon for 'Senior Day' when it hosts Virginia University of Lynchburg to town.

Coming off a successful Homecoming bash last weekend, the Wildcats aim for their fourth home win in as many games against the Dragons in the 2 p.m. kick-off.

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Virginia University of Lynchburg at FVSU
Sat., Oct. 28, 2 p.m.
Wildcat Stadium
(A Cashless facility)
Fort Valley, Ga.
Tickets
Live Stats
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Wildcat Stadium Continues to be a Cashless Facility
     In keeping with all other facilities, Wildcat Stadium will continue to be a Cashless Facility this weekend. This means all tickets, parking and tailgating will be made online. All three can be purchased right now at: wildcatticketoffice.com.

FVSU Set to Honor 'Baker's Dozen' of Seniors
     Saturday will be the final FVSU home contest and the last time appearing in uniform for a 'Baker's Dozen' of Wildcats.
     There will be 13 Wildcats playing their final career home game of:
      #2 WR Fralon Warren
     #8 WR/KR Hakeem Ellington
     #10 WR Jaren Lawson
     #11 WR Shaw Robinson
     #12 WR Corintheus Edmonds
     #19 QB Jaylen Joyner
     #20 DB Christian Miller
     #22 DB Justin Harris
     #28 LB Cameron Johnson
     #29 DB Keon Bogan
     #48 LB Bryce Webster
     #62 OL Rio Claytor
     #75 OL Waylin Bell
     #99 Caleb Thomas

FVSU vs. Virginia University of Lynchburg – 2nd Meeting
     In one of the newest foes of the program, Saturday's game between FVSU and VUL will mark only the second of the series between the two gridiron programs.
     Back on September 29 of 2018, VUL came to the FVSU campus and upset the home team, 31-14, in the lone game of the series.

Gibbs Aims to Add Another Team to the Win Column
     After only 18 games at the helm, FVSU Head Coach Shawn Gibbs has secured 14 wins as a collegiate head coach (14-4 & .778).
     Gibbs' teams have currently defeated 10 different teams over the past two seasons. Saturday he can add an 11^th to the running total against Virginia University of Lynchburg.
    His teams also are 6-1 at Wildcat Stadium.

Series Last Meeting: Dragons Spoil Wildcats Home Opener

     Fort Valley, Ga. (Sept. 29, 2018) -- The Wildcats had a tough start when they took the field after a two-hour weather delay and failed to capitalize in the second half to fully turn the tide. Virginia University at Lynchburg spoiled the Fort Valley State football Home Opener, 31-14, in a damp Wildcat Stadium.
     Trailing 17-7 late in the third quarter, the Wildcats offense drove 63 yards to the Dragons one-yardline. On fourth-and-goal, the visitors defense stopped the FVSU rush attempt for no gain. Virginia Lynchburg took over on offense and quarterback Elijah Stewart found Jevon Green on the left sideline on the first play and saw his receiver navigate through a few FVSU defenders and went 99 yards for touchdown. The Wildcats failed to regain the momentum and were unable to cut into the 17-point margin over the final 16:55 of the contest.
     After tough-going first half, the Wildcats were able to move in the second half and outgained the Dragons, 324-217 off 19 more snaps. FVSU, though hurt themselves all night with 18 penalties for 163 yards, including a hold on the second-half opening kick-offs to call back a 90-yard Jeffery Mack kick return touchdown, and the game's lone two turnovers, which led to two VUL touchdowns.
     The FVSU defense held the team in the game in the first half, including an early first-and-goal stand from its own four yardline to hold Virginia Lynchburg to a 35-yard field goal. The Wildcat defenders registered 14 tackles for a loss of 58 yards and four sacks.
    Camron Young, Stacy Ivey Jr., and Malcolm Garrett paced the defense with seven tackles with each having at least one tackle for loss. Kei'Jne Thomas added two sacks, three tackles for loss and six total stops, while Niykiem Floyd and three tackles for loss of his six tackles.
    Offensively, Garrel Quainton connected on 19 of 28 pass attempts for 232 yards with one score and an interception and a fumble. Willie Jordan rushed for 60 yards on 14 totes. Adrian Adams pulled in four passes for 54 yards and AJ Shipman four of his own for 35 yards.
     Jeremy McCants scored the first FVSU touchdown from three yards out with 10:45 left in the third quarter. Quainton hit Jamari Clark in the left side and saw the running back dive into the corner of the end zone for the other score with 4:25 left in the game.

FVSU Moves Back to No. 6 in HBCU D2 Coaches Poll
     After slipping to No. 7 last week, FVSU moved back to No. 6 in the latest HBCU D2 Coaches Poll.
Courtesy of boxtorow.com
     The HBCU Division II Coaches Poll powered by BOXTOROW is administered by BOXTOROW, and is voted on by the HBCU NCAA Division II coaches.
2023 HBCU Division II Coaches Poll powered by BOXTOROW
Week 8
(Records as of October 21, 2023)

No.	Team	W-L	Pts	Last Week
1	Benedict (21)	8-0	219	1
2	Virginia Union	7-1	192	3
3	Miles	6-2	160	4
4	Fayetteville State	6-2	139	5
5	Virginia Sate	7-1	129	2
6	Fort Valley State	6-2	110	7
7	Tuskegee (1)	6-2	97	8
8	Allen	6-2	63	6
9	Edward Waters	5-3	44	NR
10	West Virginia State	4-3	22	9

Johnson C. Smith (5-3) 13, Albany State (4-4) , , Lincoln (Pa.) (4-4) 2, Winston-Salem State (5-3) 5, Bowie State (4-4) 6, Livingstone (3-5) 2.
(1st place votes in parentheses)

FVSU Last Week: Wildcats Ground out Win over Maroon Tigers on Homecoming

     FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The festivities have run all week with an overflow of Wildcat supporters to The Valley Saturday and the team on the gridiron did not disappoint. Fort Valley State ground out a solid 31-3 Homecoming victory over Morehouse College and sealed another winning season in the process.
     Leading by only 7-3 late in the second quarter, Fralon Warren pulled in Donovan Anthony's best pass of the first half and capped a quick 4-play, 48-yard drive with the 26-yard touchdown catch. With the score, FVSU went ahead by double digits and never looked back.
After giving up 51 yards on 12 plays resulting in a field goal on the opening Morehouse possession, the FVSU defense allowed only 86 yards over the final 50:31 of the contest. Offensively, Brandon Marshall carried the load for the Wildcats with his fourth 100-plus yard outing in the last five games with 140 yards on 28 carries and two scores from 1-yard for the first home touchdown and put the game out of reach with a 14-yard burst up the middle with 14:12 left in the day, 21-3.
     With the home win, FVSU sealed its second winning season in a row under second-year head coach Shawn Gibbs. The Wildcats are now 6-2 and 6-1 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with two regular season games left on the docket.
     Leading the defensive effort, Cedric Hillsman posed three tackles for loss, a sack where he forced the fumble, six tackles and a quarterback hurry. Hillsman and his teammates totaled 18 tackles for loss of 54 yards on the afternoon along with two forced fumbles and five sacks. Adeon Farmer accounted for two of the other sacks while Tim Alderman, D.J. Wilson and Marquis Hood had the others.
     Darnell Stephens and Daymon Polite added five stops from the secondary. Both Malik Harp and Alderman recorded three tackles for loss apiece.
     Filling in for Kelvin Durham, Anthony was an efficient 8 for 11 passing for 101 yards and the touchdown strike before half. Corintheus Edmonds grabbed three of the passes for 29 yards.
     Punter Elan Hall gets special mention with his four boots. He covered 184 yards for a 46.0-yard per punt average with dropping three inside the opponents' 20-yardline, including one at the 1-yardline, and a touchback.
     Trailing 3-0, FVSU took over on the visitors' 22-yardline on its second possession. Seven plays later, Marshall leaped over the line into the endzone from one yard away to put the Wildcats on top for good, 7-3.
     Leading 14-3 at half and heading into the final 15 minutes at the same score, Marshall burst up the middle for a 14-yard scoring rush to seal the victory, 21-3, only 48 seconds into the quarter. Daniel Gibbs added a 30-yard field goal almost 10 minutes later and Jamal Sanders rushed for his first collegiate touchdown at 2:05 to go completing the scoring.

Virginia University of Lynchburg Last Week: VUL Scores Final 21 points to Win Battle of the Dragons

      Jackson, Tenn.- Trailing by three scores, Virginia University of Lynchburg owned the final 22 minutes by scoring three touchdowns and 24 total points to overtake host Lane College, 45-40, on the road.
     Down 40-21, VUL quarterback C.J. Brooks capped a 74-yard, 7-play drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jason Scirigion at 7:22 left in the third frame. The two hooked up again to give their team the lead for good on a 16-yard pass with 12:27 left to play after a Brayan Augustin rushing score from 16 yards four minutes prior. VUL sealed the win with a short 28-yard field goal with 6:01 left in the game for the final points.
     The VUL offense amassed 368 yards of total offense with 204 of them coming in those final 22 minutes of play.
     Brooks completed 15 of 26 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns to only one interception. Scirigione pulled in four of the passes for 92 yards and the two scores, while Kendrick Turner also had four catches for 98 yards and one touchdown. Running back Jaiden Jackson rushed for 80 yards on 23 carries.
     Devon Williams led the VUL defense with eight tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss.

Wildcats Take Trio of SIAC Football Weekly Honors

          With the pleasing of the Homecoming crowd of the gridiron victory, the Wildcats reaped the rewards on Tuesday. Fort Valley State saw a trio of players pick up Southern Intercollegiate Conference weekly football honors of Brandon Marshall, Cedric Hillsman and Elan Hall as the Newcomer, Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Week.
      The SIAC's leading rusher recorded his 4th 100-yard plus rushing game in the last five games. Marshall rushed 28 times for 140 yards for a 5.0-yard average and scored a pair of touchdowns along with grabbing one pass for another eight yards. His 1-yard leap over the line into the endzone with 1:43 left in the opening frame gave FVSU a 7-3 lead it would not give up. He also put the game out of reach with a 14-yd scoring run up the middle with 14:12 in the game to make it 21-3 in the eventual.
Hillsman led the FVSU defense, which gave up only 137 total yards to Morehouse and only 86 yards over the final 54 minutes after the game's opening possession. Hillsman recorded a season-high six tackles, a sack of 7 yards, 3 tackles for loss of 11 yards, as well as forcing a fumble that was recovered by FVSU on the Morehouse first play of the third quarter and added a quarterback hurry to his day.
     Hall had a superb day punting for FVSU with his four punts covering 184 yards for an impressive 46.0-yard per punt average with three inside the 20-yardline and one touchback with a 55-yard long. On his first punt, the freshman kicked it 48 yards and was downed at the Morehouse 11-yardline. The second punt went 36 yards, but it was fair caught at the Morehouse 5-yardline. His third boot went 55 yards, his long on the day, for a touchback, which hit just over the endzone line. On his final punt, Hall's effort went 45 yards and was fair caught at the Morehouse 11-yardline.

Wildcats (6-2/6-1 SIAC) SIAC Ranks vs. Dragons (2-6)
     FVSU                                 Category                                VUL
       3rd (32.5 ppg)                  Scoring Offense                     16.0 ppg
       4th (23.8 ppg)                  Scoring Defense                     39.7 ppg

       6th (341.9 yds/gm)          Total Offense                          172.3 yds/gm
       4th (142.0 yds/gm)          Rush Offense                         39.3 yds/gm
       8th (199.9 yds/gm)          Pass Offense                          133.0 yds/gm

       4th (335.5 yds/gm)          Total Defense                         387.3 yds/gm
       2nd (79.4 yds/gm)           Rush Defense                         253.3 yds/gm
       13^th (256.1 yds/gm)         Pass Defense                         134.0 yds/gm

Wildcats Travel to Columbus for 33^rd FCC
     The Wildcats will complete their 2023 regular season at the 33^rd annual Fountain City Classic in Columbus, Ga. against rival Golden Rams of Albany State. Kick-off on Saturday, Nov. 4, will be at 2 p.m.

-Wildcats-

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