December 14th, 2024 6:50pm
For the seventh time in program history, Valdosta State will play for the national championship. The Blazers advanced to the national finals with a 35-21 win at home over visiting Minnesota State. Running back Alfonso Franklin scored all five Valdosta State touchdowns with three rushing and two receiving. Franklin finished the day with 152 rushing yards and 66 receiving yards.
The first half ended with each team having completed only two possessions each. Valdosta State opened the game with a scoring drive that lasted 10:05. The Mavericks responded with a scoring drive lasting nearly nine minutes. Valdosta State reclaimed the lead 14-7 midway through the second quarter. Minnesota State was in scoring position at the end of the half but fell behind the sticks due to a fumble, then missed a field goal in the final seconds of the half. Valdosta State went the locker room with 14-7 halftime lead.
The action became more explosive in the third quarter with the Mavericks tying the game at 14 after a Sam Backer 69-yard touchdown run in the first minute of the half. The Blazers responded with an 87-yard scoring drive lasting seven plays. Later in the third quarter, Valdosta State would extend the lead to 28-14 (the first two-score lead of the day) with 72-yard drive.
With their season on the line, the Mavericks responded with a 25-yard touchdown pass on 4th and seven early in the fourth quarter. After the Mav’s cut the lead down to a touchdown, the game became defensive for the first time all day. The teams traded punts until late in the fourth as the Blazers took advantage of field position and capped a 58-yard drive with Franklin’s fifth TD of the day, a 24-yard rush.
The Blazers finished the day with 385 total yards, a slight edge over Minnesota State’s 325. Full recap to follow later tonight.
Valdosta State post game report
VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off a 35-21 victory on Saturday afternoon the No. 1 Valdosta State football team will face a familiar foe in Ferris State in the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championship on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. ET at McKinney ISD Stadium in McKinney, Texas. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
The Blazers enter their seventh national championship game with a 4-2 mark all-time in the championship game. It is VSU's first trip to the title game since 2021 when these two teams played in the title game with Ferris State leveling the series. The teams met in 2018 for the first time with VSU winning its fourth national title in an absolute thriller, 49-47.
VSU (13-0) had five touchdowns on Saturday from senior Alfonso Franklin, three on the ground and two receiving scores, while the Blazers held the high-powered MSU rushing attack in check for most of the game.
Ferris State (13-1) trailed 38-27 at halftime to Slippery Rock Saturday evening, before outscoring SRU 21-0 in the second half and registering four interceptions in the game with two in the end zone and a pick six for a 48-38 victory marking the third trip to the title game for the Bulldogs in the last four years.
VSU is 34-15 all-time in its 20th postseason appearance as the Blazers reached the title game in 2002, 2004, 2007, 2012, 2018 and 2021 previously. The Blazers' four titles came in 2004, 2007, 2012 and 2018. The seven appearances by the Blazers are tied for second all-time in D2 behind ten trips by Northwest Missouri State. Former D2 member North Dakota State also had seven trips.
The Bulldogs, out of Big Rapids, Mich., are in their 15th appearance to the postseason and are 29-12 all-time with national titles in 2021 and 2022, along with the runner-up finish to the Blazers in 2018.
Check back with vstateblazers.com for more information on the title game.