Valdosta State football blazes new trail to GSC Title, DII playoffs

VALDOSTA, Ga. (WCTV) - If you could travel back to October 4th, you’d see a rather unfamiliar sight in Title Town USA.

Valdosta State falls 32-25 to Lenoir-Rhyne, its third loss in four games. This time its in heartbreaking fashion. The team is in the midst of playing musical chairs at quarterback and unable to make the play it needed most on any side of the ball.

But a funny thing happened on the way to conference play... the Blazers never gave up.

“I kept telling them your goals are in front of you,” remarked Graham Craig of the consistent message. “I got tired of saying it and they got tired of hearing it, but they responded.”

Fast forward to November. A four game winning streak, 3-0 in Gulf South play, three straight wins over top 25 competition including upsetting #3 West Florida in its own house to claim a conference title and a DII playoff berth. A team that had every reason to fold, did the opposite, finding an identity and catching fire in the nick of time.

“We’ve come together as a team and it’s beautiful to see,” said quarterback Jameson Holcomb. “Guys are rooting for each other, the defense has the offense’s back, the offense has the defense’s back. We weren’t doing that at the beginning of the season but I’m glad to see it now.”

In an age of crash outs and cash outs in all levels of college football, V State’s rally is one to be praised. Craig’s squad stayed in the fight and blazed a rare path, but one with a familiar destination.

“VSU is VSU,” said kicker Matt Rolander of the Blazer standard. The freshman from Auburn, Alabama’s leg lifted Valdosta State over UWF in overtime on Saturday.

“This is a historic program. We’re supposed to be in the playoffs and it means a lot to everyone around the team. Coach Craig’s been saying it a lot, we just need the people in the building and to trust and we got there today.”

VSU faces Albany State in the first round of the DII Playoffs on Saturday at 1 PM in Albany, Georgia.

To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and X (Twitter).

Have a news tip or see an error? Write to us here. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

Be the first to see all the biggest headlines by downloading the WCTV News app. Click here to get started.