JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Wildcats used all facets of its arsenal for victory Saturday night. Brandon Marshall scored four times on offense, DeJuan Bell returned two punts for touchdowns and the BlueDeath Defense held its third foe to negative rushing yards and spelled a Fort Valley State gridiron victory, 48-14, over Edward Waters.
Starting with Marshall, the running back scored a Wildcat touchdown in each quarter, including his 14-yard run which sealed the win with 3:04 remaining to make it 34-14. Bell returned his first punt for a touchdown at 13:59 of the second quarter for 63 yards before he capped his night with a 70-yard repeat touchdown return at 10:10 in the game. The FVSU defense added to the night by holding the EWU offense to -37 yards rushing on 25 attempts.
FVSU put 40-plus points on the scoreboard for the third time in five contests. The Wildcats went above .500 to 3-2 on the season and 3-1 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The reigning SIAC Offensive Player of the Week, Marshall recorded his best night as a Wildcat in his two seasons. The senior rushed for 160 yards on 25 carries for a 6.4-yard average and scores of 21, six and 14 yards. He also caught three passes for 45 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown, for 205 all-purpose yards on 28 touches.
Despite only catching one pass for eight yards, Bell accounted for 222 all-purpose yards on only seven touches of the ball. He returned the 63 and 70-yard punt returns for touchdowns and had one other punt return of 30 yards for 162 total punt return yards. Bell also returned three kick-offs for 52 yards.
The BlueDeath Defense shut down its third opponent's rushing attack. Coming into the week allowing only 51.3 yards a game, FVSU saw EWU rush 25 times and posted a total of -37 yards for the third time in five games with a negative rush total. The unit also recorded five sacks and held the Tigers to only 219 yards on 61 plays.
Back to the Wildcat offense, quarterback Kelvin Durham threw for 171 yards on 11 of 18 passes with one score and one interception. He hit Jamie Hampton with four passes for 48 yards. Four other FVSU receivers had one grab apiece in J.T. Pendleton, Alex Henton, Bell and Gentry Sparks covering 37, 28, eight and five yards.
Joining Marshall running the ball, Jamal Sanders ran for 50 yards, while Triston Morgan added 32 yards on two totes with a 21-yard touchdown.
For the second week in a row, the FVSU offense went over 400 yards of total offense with 413 yards on 54 plays. The Wildcats ran for 242 yards on 36 carries to go with 171 yards through the air.
DeMarcus Harris added to the FVSU players with their best career performances. The linebacker posted nine tackles while he had 4.5 tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and a pass breakup.
Kentrell Lawson registered five stops with one for a loss. Defensive backs Landon Austin, Kamari Blanksumee and Dray Duncan each had four tackles with two and one tackles for loss and a Duncan breakup. Jaydn Walker posted 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack of his own.
Freshman Jamarian Stevenson made the most of his two tackles with 1.5 for a loss with each as part of sacks. Omarion LaRoach was in on one sack. Tre'vyon Webb picked off a Edward Waters pass.
The FVSU defense had a long list of eight other defenders with a tackle for loss in the unit's -37-yard total in Josh Burney, Jaylen Brown, Malik Harp, D.J. Wilson, Amaury Hutchinson, Adeon Farmer, Alfonso Harris and Marquis Hood.
Edward Waters quarterback Juwan Dent completed 21 of 36 passes for 256 yards with one score and an interception. He rushed 13 times for a -32 yards.
The Wildcat special teams again keyed the start of its points. Morgan forced a muff of the Tiger punter and allowed the visitors to take over on the home 21-yardline. Marshall took the shotgun hand off and ran to the end zone for the night's opening points.
Marshall pulled in a 27-yard scoring pass from Durham at 6:53 left in the second quarter after Bell's first punt return touchdown for a 21-0 intermission score.
Edward Waters cut into the margin with a 5-yard fumble return on the first play of the third quarter. The Tigers scored their only offensive touchdown on a 51-yard pass at 5:55 in the third and trailed 27-14 heading to the final 15 minutes.
FVSU, though, put three touchdowns on the scoreboard in the fourth frame and sealed the victory.
The Wildcats return home for Homecoming in The Valley next weekend. FVSU welcomes Allen University to town on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 12, in a 2 p.m. kick-off.
-Wildcats-
