FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The Wildcats took away any doubt early Saturday afternoon. Fort Valley State had a three-score Sparks and rode a dominate first-half performance past Benedict College in a 44-20 football victory.
After an initial punt on the first possession, the Kelvin Durham to Gentry Sparks combination took over the scoreboard. The FVSU quarterback and tight end connected on 12 and 13-yard scoring strikes in the first half and a third one from nine yards midway through the second for a 21-0 lead.
The BlueDeath Defense did not budge in the first 30 minutes as it forced six punts and a turnover on downs, while the home offense added another two scores in the final 3:38 of the second quarter to end a 35-0 dominating first half and rode it the rest of the way.
With the victory, FVSU improved to 6-3 and sealed it third winning season in three years under head coach Shawn Gibbs. The Wildcats also went to 6-1 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and stayed in second place behind only Miles College (7-0). Benedict fell to 3-6 overall and 3-4 in the Conference.
Brandon Marshall had his way running the ball with 160 yards on 26 carries for a 6.2-yard per carry average and a 3-yard scoring plunge. He also pulled in a 12-yard pass. Jamal Sanders added 71 yards on four carries and the sophomore caught a 29-yard touchdown pass.
Durham connected on 10 of 19 pass attempts for 182 yards with four touchdowns. He connected with Sparks for the three touchdown passes covering 34 yards. Dejuan Bell hauled in three balls for 77 yards and returned three punts for 57 yards. Jamie Hampton added two receptions for 30 yards.
For the fifth time in nine games, the BlueDeath Defense held its opposition to negative rushing yards with -1 on 21 rush attempts. The Wildcat defense gave up only 213 yards of total offense on 54 plays compared to the home team's 455 yards, including 273 yards on the ground, on 70 plays from scrimmage.
Defensive back Dray Duncan led the FVSU defense with seven tackles and two pass breakups. Jaydn Walker contributed five stops, one for a loss and a sack, while Malik Harp added four tackles and one for a loss. Amaury Hutchinson also had four tackles.
Josh Burney and Cedric Hillsman both sacked the Benedict quarterback once with two tackles for loss apiece. Adeon Farmer added a sack and two tackles for loss, while DJ Wilson rounded out the linemen with 1.5 sacks.
FVSU will play to move on to the SIAC Championship in next weekend's 35th Annual Fountain City Classic. The Wildcats meet the rival Golden Rams of Albany State in Columbus, Ga., in a 2 p.m. kick-off.
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