FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The Wildcats corrected the first-half mistakes and tightened the ship in the final 30 minutes. Fort Valley State dominated the second half and blanked Savannah State, 30-0, in the rescheduled and location moved football game on Sunday afternoon.
After fumbling twice and not taking advantage of an interception in the opening two quarters, the Wildcats played near flawless second-half football. The BlueDeath Defense held the Tigers to two first downs on the opening drive of the third quarter and one in the fourth, allowed only 75 yards, sacked the quarterback six times and forced four punts. The FVSU offense found the end zone four times and amassed 258 yards in a 27-0 second half performance.
Leading 3-0 after Daniel Gibbs booted a 44-yard field goal as time ran out of the first half, Brandon Marshall capped FVSU late third-quarter drives with scoring runs of four and seven yards for separation on the scoreboard, 16-0. The home defense spearheaded it from there.
With the victory, FVSU improves to 7-0 under head coach Shawn Gibbs after a loss. The Wildcats evened its season mark to 2-2 and 2-1 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. It is also the second win in a row over Savannah State (1-3/1-2 SIAC) and second home shut out after doing the same to Kentucky State (42-0) two weeks ago.
The Wildcat defense held the Tiger offense to 163 yards on the day on 52 plays. The unit held its second foe to negative rushing yards at -7 yards on 26 carries. The home defense also held Savannah State to 1 for 12 on third down, forced three turnovers and sacked the quarterback eight times for 40 yards.
Leading the defense was freshman K.J. Spence, who had five tackles, one for a loss, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and broke up a pass. Tre'vyon Webb was also in on five stops, while DeMarcus Harris had four tackles and three quarterback hurries.
Josh Burney recorded his biggest day as a Wildcat on the defensive line with 2.5 sacks of his three tackles. Alphonso Harris added 1.5 sacks of his own with one hurry. Adeon Farmer took down three ball carriers with a sack and three hurries, while D.J. Wilson chipped in three tackles with one for a loss. Kentrell Lawson posted a sack of his own, broke up a pass and had two tackles.
Omarion LaRoach and Janorris Robertson rounded out the big sack day with one apiece. Cedric Hillsman contributed a tackle for loss and two tackles. Dray Duncan picked off the Tiger pass.
The FVSU offense produced 436 yards on 68 plays from scrimmage. The unit ran for 141 yards on 41 carries and covered 295 yards on 20 completions.
On the offense, Kelvin Durham had an efficient day directing the attack as he was 20 for 26 passing for 295 yards and a touchdown. Jamie Hampton pulled in three of those passes for 93 yards and Dejuan Bell had three for 30 yards with five punt returns for 49 yards. Alex Henton caught two passes for 33 yards with his first FVSU score of 15 yards.
In three quarters, Marshall rumbled for 69 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns, while he caught five balls for 73 yards. Triston Morgan ran five times for 41 yards. Jamal Sanders rushed for 29 yards and had two catches for 21 yards.
Leading 10-0 later in the third quarter, Burney sacked the Savannah State quarterback on both first and third down and helped force a quick possession. FVSU took advantage of taking over on the SSU 39-yardline as Durham hit Marshall for 32 yards on a pass before Marshall ran left for a six-yard score on the next play for the 16-0 lead.
The Wildcats completes its three-game road swing next Saturday, Oct. 5, in Jacksonville, Fla. FVSU plays at Edward Waters, which also played on Sunday afternoon, in a 4 p.m. kick-off.
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