October 21st, 2019 2:57am
GSC Review Week Seven
The GSC served a little bit of everything this past weekend. If you like watching football played in the mud, you got it. If you like watching high scoring offense, you got it, and if you like watching some slobberknocking defensive battles, well, you got that as well. We also had some crazy things to happen this past weekend, such as a goal post malfunction and a scoreless game going into halftime. Bottom line, GSC football was interesting to say the least.
Scores & Analysis
(W) North Greenville (3-4, 2-3 GSC) – 07
(L) Shorter (0-7, 0-5 GSC) – 00
Saturday, October 19th at Rome, GA
Analysis: This game was one of the ones played in constant rain and mud, which was unfortunate since it was Shorter’s Homecoming game. The productivity by Shorter was unfortunate as well. Shorter had only 180 yards total offense. North Greenville, although the victor, wasn’t able to do much better with just 272 yards of offense. North Greenville had three turnovers against Shorter’s two, and Shorter’s defense gave them several chances to pull out a victory for the first time in over two years, but every time an opportunity did arise, Shorter’s offense simply let it slip thru their grasps. Quarterback Bryce Fields nor running back Dre’ Williams played in this game for North Greenville, so that meant some guys had to step up. London Johnson stepped up at quarterback throwing for the only score of the game, and Jarvion Norman ran for 78 yards. Chauncy Haney had another terrific game with two sacks, two tackles for losses and five total tackles. WOWZER! Aaron Watson and Caleb Bynum both chipped in an interception each. Xavier Robinson led Shorter’s defense with eight tackles and two for losses. Caleb Mason had one pick. It was another tough loss for Shorter, but you have to take advantage of turnovers and positive situations that come your way. I think Shorter should have tried to do a little bit what North Greenville did in that terrible mess of weather and that is run the ball. North Greenville ran the ball 48 times compared to 19 pass attempts. Shorter attempted 34 passes against 27 runs. You have got to try and establish the run in any game, but especially bad rainy weather games. It doesn’t get easier for Shorter as they travel to an up and coming and well rested Mississippi College team. North Greenville hosts Valdosta State.
(L) Florida Tech (3-4, 1-3 GSC) – 28
(W) #1 Valdosta State (7-0, 5-0 GSC) – 55
Saturday, October 19th at Valdosta, GA
Analysis: It was Homecoming as well for Valdosta State, but it was also wet and miserable weather for the fans and alumni, but I’m sure the players love playing in this type of weather. I know one thing, it did not slow down Valdosta State offensively at all. They scored 55 points in this one, the most they have scored all season long. It was close early second quarter when all tied up at 21, but by halftime, Valdosta State led 41-21 on a couple of big plays. Rogan Wells has another tremendous day at the office by throwing for 338 yards, three scores, and very efficient at 20 of 29. Wells also ran for 83 yards on six carries for a score and a 13.8 average. Seth McGill added three scores while rushing for 89 yards. Brian Saunds, GSC Offensive Player of the Week, caught 10 passes for 246 and 1 score. WOWZER! Valdosta State’s Jay Hawthorne also collected GSC Special Teams player of the week. Florida Tech’s Trent Chmelik came back and played pretty well. He threw for 235 yards and 2 scores. Looks like Chmelik and Mike Diliello went back and forth at quarterback during this one with Chmelik primarily passing and Diliello running the ball. John McClure and Chad Simmons both led the defense with eight tackles each. There had been some rumblings from a couple of Valdosta State fans about the offense being a little too conservative lately, especially in the scoring department. Well, I think Valdosta State’s offense proved to everyone that they are capable of winning any game they play by a considerable margin. Valdosta State will travel to North Greenville next and Florida Tech will host a hot West Florida team in the Battle of the Beaches next.
(W) #24 West Florida (5-1, 4-0 GSC) – 30
(L) West Georgia (4-3, 2-2 GSC) – 02
Saturday, October 19th at Carrolton, GA
Analysis: I really thought that West Georgia had turned the corner and was going to show everyone that they are a title contender, but with a torrential downpour, a not so good turnout of fans, and a West Florida team that looked as if they were born to play football in the mud, it more than likely dropped West Georgia out of any playoff spot for this year. They started off good with a collecting a safety against West Florida, but that was it. West Florida rushed 49 times for 184 yards while West Georgia ran 36 times for only 78 yards. West Florida, typically a pass happy team, only threw the ball 15 times, completed only two of them for 43 yards. West Georgia attempted 31 passes. You see, all signs point to you must run the ball more, especially during rainy weather compared to trying to pass the ball. Turnovers also killed West Georgia who had six compared to West Florida’s three. West Florida’s Jervon Newton rushed for 100 yards and Austin Reed from the quarterback position ran for two scores. Defensively, Gael Laurent collected three sacks, three tackles for losses and two forced fumbles. WOWZER! Not much offensively for a pretty stagnant West Georgia offense. Defensively, Latrell Gibbs picked off one pass. West Florida will head back home to face there in state rival in Florida Tech next weekend while West Georgia travels to West Alabama in which both teams frankly have played below expectations as well as their talent level.
(L) West Alabama (4-3, 1-3 GSC) – 07
(W) Delta State (4-3, 3-2 GSC) – 14
Saturday, October 19th at Cleveland, MS
Analysis: West Alabama traveled with a real good crowd to the Delta to take on the Statesmen on a nationally televised game this past weekend. The name of the game in this one was ‘DEFENSE’. This game was scoreless at the half with Delta State scoring on two second half drives and West Alabama scoring in response to Delta State’s first scoring drive. West Alabama had several opportunities, five in the red zone to be exact, but Delta State rose to the occasion on four of the five, forcing a missed field goal on one, along with an amazing three 4th down stops. WOWZER! Delta State’s Vada King collected GSC Defensive player of the week based on his 13 tackle performance and being the key tackler in one of those fourth down stops. Rico Owens rushed for 107 yards and one score while Breck Ruddick passed for 129 yards and a score to Cam Shelton. West Alabama’s Jack McDaniels threw for 105 yards and a pick before coming out with what looked to be a shoulder injury. While Jacob Murphree came in and did a solid job, contributing to the only score by throwing a nice pass to Jonas Spivey in the corner end zone, it wasn’t enough. The rushing game for West Alabama was 67 yards. However, James Smith and Derrick Underwood both had a 7.1 and a 4.6 average respectively, West Alabama just did not give enough carries to the running game while Delta State did. This was a win needed by both teams in order to continue playoff possibilities. West Alabama is most assuredly out of the playoffs while Delta State gets a week off in preparation for Shorter. If they can continue taking care of business, they should be the third team in. No room for error though. West Alabama hosts West Georgia next Saturday in a game to decide which team is going to play up to their talent level.
GSC Weekly Awards
Offensive Player of the Week
Week One – Valdosta State – Junior - Quarterback Rogan Wells
Week Two – West Georgia – Freshman – Running Back Chauncey Williams
Week Three – Valdosta State – Junior – Quarterback Rogan Wells
Week Four – Florida Tech – Freshman – Quarterback Mike Diliello
Week Five – North Greenville – Sophomore – Quarterback Bryce Fields
Week Six – West Georgia – Senior – Quarterback Willie Candler
Week Seven – Valdosta State – Junior – Wide Receiver Brian Saunds
Defensive Player of the Week
Week One – Delta State – Senior – Linebacker Vada King
Week Two – Valdosta State – Sophomore – Defensive Lineman Thomas Incoom
Week Three – Valdosta State – Sophomore – Defensive Back Aaron Dawson
Week Four – North Greenville – Senior – Defensive Lineman Chauncy Haney
Week Five – North Greenville – Sophomore – Dantevian Byrd
Week Six – North Greenville – Senior – Defensive Lineman Chauncy Haney
Week Seven – Delta State – Senior – Linebacker Vada King
Special Teams Player of the Week
Week One – West Alabama – Senior – Punter Zach Gaines
Co-Week Two – West Alabama – Junior – Tight End Tyler Butler
Co-Week Two – North Greenville – Junior – Wide Receiver Harold Hilton
Week Three – Delta State – Senior – Placekicker Taylor Crabtree
Week Four – Delta State – Senior – Placekicker Taylor Crabtree
Week Five – West Georgia – Sophomore – Placekicker Omar Cervantes
Week Six – North Greenville – Junior – Defensive Back Johnny Worthy
Week Seven – Valdosta State – Freshman – Defensive Back Jay Hawthorne
Freshman of the Week
Week One – North Greenville – Running Back Dre’ Williams
Week Two – No Players were selected by the GSC.
Week Three – Florida Tech – Quarterback Mike Diliello
Week Four – Florida Tech – Quarterback Mike Diliello
Week Five – West Florida – Quarterback Austin Reed
Week Six – Shorter – Linebacker Xavier Robinson
Week Seven – West Florida – Linebacker Gael Laurent