FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The Wildcats were on the prowl early and controlled the day's action. Fort Valley State set the tone with a blocked punt on the first possession, scored touchdowns on five-straight drives and shut out Kentucky State, 42-0, for its first football victory of the season.
After the Thorobreds first three plays netted a loss of two yards, the Wildcats' Jaylen Brown flew in from the left side and blocked the visitors' punt before Amaury Hutchinson dove on it in the end zone for the touchdown. Offensively, FVSU put five more touchdowns on the scoreboard with scores on each second and third-quarter possession in the dominating afternoon.
With the victory, FVSU evens its season mark to 1-1 overall and in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. For the sixth time following a loss, head coach Shawn Gibbs improved to 6-0 after a Wildcat loss. Kentucky State fell to 0-3 and 0-1 in the SIAC.
Following a tough opening day performance, the BlueDeath defense showed it mettle. Most importantly, the defensive unit posted its first shutout since a 30-0 blanking of Tuskegee on Sept. 5 of 2021 opening that campaign and first one under Gibbs tutelage. The FVSU defense held Kentucky State to -10 yards rushing on 21 attempts, 137 yards passing and a total of 127 yards on 47 offensive plays. The home defense also forced three turnovers with the blocked punt, forced a fumble and an interception, which was made in its end zone to end a Thorobred drive and keep them off the scoreboard, sacked the quarterback six times and had eight tackles for loss.
The FVSU defense had a balanced effort with freshman Tre'vyon Webb leading with six tackles and eight Wildcats had two or more stops. Malik Harp registered five tackles, while David Moncrief (with one for a loss, DeMarcus Harris and Kel Ikechukwu all had four.
Cedric Hillsman made the most of his three tackles with a strip sack for a forced fumble, which Jannoris Robertson recovered, who also had 1.5 sacks of his own. Darnell Stephens picked off the pass in the home endzone, while Terrance Irons, Marquis Hood, Lorenzo Harvey and Alphonzo Harris recorded a sack each.
The Wildcat offense did its part as well with 498 yards of total offense on 56 plays without a turnover. Quarterback Kelvin Durham registered 302 yards of total offense. The redshirt junior completed 17 of 20 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns and ran five times for 19 yards.
Brandon Marshall rushed 12 times for 85 yards and pulled in five passes for 72 yards, including a 41-yard scoring strike. Jamal Sanders had a solid rushing day with 60 yards on six totes with his first collegiate touchdown covering 40 yards.
DeJuan Bell grabbed four passes for 126 yards with touchdowns of 10 and 74 yards. Jamie Hampton had three catches for 42 yards and Za'Tarious Anderson had a 10-yard touchdown.
With the blocked punt being the lone first-quarter score, FVSU's offense joined the defense in getting its output going in full force in the two middle quarters.
The Wildcat offensive unit was 5 for 5 in scoring touchdowns of its possessions over the middle 30 minutes of play. Durham completed 10-yard scoring passes to Anderson with 10:15 in the frame and then Bell on an inside slant with only 32 seconds before half to make it 21-0 at intermission.
Durham completed his third and fourth scoring strikes in the third quarter to put the game away. He first found Marshall for 41 yards on the fourth play of the second half and then midway through hit Bell deep down the middle for 74 yards and a 35-0 lead. The final third-quarter home drive ended in the fourth frame on Sanders' 40-yard running burst up the middle.
FVSU will begin a three-week road swing next weekend. The Wildcats travel to Cleveland, Miss., for a 6 p.m. CST/7 p.m. EST kick-off against the Statesmen of Delta State on Saturday evening, Sept. 21.
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