FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Wildcats made their post season presence felt on the initial drive Wednesday night and never trailed. Fort Valley State set the tone early with a game-opening 75-yard scoring drive, took control of contest and prevailed over Johnson C. Smith University, 23-10, in a wet Inaugural Florida Beach Bowl.

On the game's first place, FVSU quarterback and Florida Beach Bowl MVP, Kelvin Durham found Dejuan Bell over the middle on a short pass, which ended up covering 42 yards and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team was off and running. Durham hit Bell on the second play for nine yards and then running back Brandon Marshall capped the 12-play, 75-yard drive by plunging in for the final two yards for a Wildcat lead they would never give up, 7-0.

Marshall went on to add a second touchdown with 15 seconds before intermission on a nine-yard pass from Durham for a 16-0 advantage. Following a J.C. Smith field goal, Durham rolled right and connected with Jaren Lawson along the right sideline who raced down the field 84 yards for what would be the game-sealing touchdown, 23-3, with 4:16 to go in the third quarter.

The Golden Bulls managed to find the endzone for the lone time of the contest to make it 23-10 with 2:16 remaining in the third quarter. The FVSU Blue Death Defense came up big in the final frame with a Kamari Blankumsee interception and turned over its CIAA foe on downs on the Wildcat 10-yardline on the ensuing possession to stop any comeback attempts.

With the victory, FVSU records its first eight-win back-to-back seasons (8-3 for 2023 and 8-2 a year ago in 2022) since the program went 11-2 in 1998 and 10-2 in 1999. It is also the most wins in back-to-back seasons with 16 victories since the Wildcats had 15 over the 2009 (7-4) and 2010 (8-3) campaigns. Second year head coach Shawn Gibbs increased his mark to 16-5 overall.

On the night, Durham completed 10 of 14 pass attempts for 167 yards and two touchdowns. He also rush three times for another seven yards for a 174 yards of total offense to earn the MVP award.

Marshall was all over for the FVSU offense as the All-SIAC First Team running back rushed 25 times for 65 yards and one score, while he pulled in two passes for nine yards with another touchdown. Bell finished with his early two catches for 51 yards, while Fralon Warren added three receptions for 26 yards. Lawson, though, had the high yardage total with 84 yards on the long touchdown grab.

Defensively, FVSU held J.C. Smith to only 150 yards of total offense on 60 offensive plays. In getting the first-half lead, the Wildcat defense allowed only 34 yards, 10 rushing in the opening 30 minutes of action. Offensively, FVSU totaled 251 yards for the night with 167 passing and 84 on the ground.

Malik Harp finished the night with a team-high six total tackles along with a quarterback hurry. Demetrius Harris and Jadyn Walker added five stops apiece. Tim Alderman secured four ball carriers to go with a key late sack to stymie the final Golden Bull offensive possession and force the final put with a six-yard sack. Up front, both Quentel Jones and D.J. Wilson contributed four tackles each.

After the FVSU 75-yard scoring drive to open the game, the two defenses stepped up and saw a combined seven-straight punts until the J.C. Smith snap to the punter in the endzone was high and went through his hands for a safety to make it a 9-0 tally at 4:16 in the second quarter.

FVSU capitalized on the ensuing free kick and drove 60 yards on eight plays to extend the margin. Durham found Marshall on a short pass where the running back did the rest of the work and dove into the endzone from nine yards with 16 ticks before the half to make it 16-0.

Following a 19-yard punt return and a FVSU penalty, J.C. Smith took over on Wildcat 15-yardline. The FVSU defense, though, allowed only two yards on the next three plays and forced J.C. Smith to try and make a 30-yard field goal, 23-3.

With the momentum towards the Golden Bulls after the field goal, Durham and the Wildcats slammed the door shut on the first play where the signal caller fired the strike to Lawson for the long touchdown to erase any doubt of the game's outcome.

-Wildcats-