Blazers blasted by Ferris State, fall 58-17, in DII National Championship

MCKINNEY, TX. (WCTV) - The hits kept coming and they didn’t stop for the Valdosta State Blazers as Ferris State flexed their muscles at every turn and took advantage of some key VSU mistakes en route to a 58-17 victory in the NCAA DII National Championship.

After a quick three and out to begin the game, Valdosta State (12-2) would give up a 56 yard rushing touchdown to Jared Bernhardt to quickly fall behind 6-0. From there V State would go on a methodical 13 play drive capped off by an 18 yard Ivory Durham touchdown pass to Seth McGill to give the Blazers 7-6 lead.

The Bulldogs came right back however as another quick TD from Bernhardt gave Ferris State (14-0) a 13-7 lead. The Blazers would once again respond with another sustained six play drive as Travon Roberts hauled in another touchdown pass from Duham to give the red and black a 14-13 lead.

On the next possession, Ferris would fumble the ball deep in their own end but the Blazers were unable to find the endzone and would settle for a 25 yard Estin Thiele to make the VSU surplus 17-14.

From there the Blazers would run out of answers for a lethal Bulldog attack as Ferris State would score touchdowns on their next three drives to open up a 34-17 lead. In an attempt to grab momentum into the halftime locker room, Head Coach Gary Goff would roll the dice and run a fake punt on 4th and 10 from the VSU 37 yard line. The attempt would fail and two plays later Mylik Mitchell would find Tyrese Hunt-Thompson for a 47 yard touchdown, ending the half on a 28-0 run to go up 41-17 at the break.

The Bulldog onslaught continued in the second half as Ferris State would close the game putting up 45 unanswered to make the 58-17 final score.

Valdosta State sufferers its first lost in the National Championship game since its first appearance in 2002, while the Bulldogs win their first ever title avenging their 2018 loss to VSU.