Shorter Game Notes
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By Jim O'Hara
 
ROME, Ga. – Remaining in contention for a Gulf South Conference championship will be a shared goal for two teams on Thursday night at Barron Stadium when the Shorter Hawks host the Valdosta State Blazers for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off that is the Florida Space Coast GSC-TV on ESPN3 Game of the Week.

"Because of the strength of the conference, most of the teams have the potential to beat one another every week," Shorter head coach Phil Jones said as the Hawks, now 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the GSC, try to snap a two-game losing streak. "Once again it could go down to the final game of the (regular) season until a champion is decided.

"We feel that this is the time for us to make a move and be want we want to be," the coach added about "The whole team is excited about the opportunity we have."

The Hawks enter the game coming off a 52-27 conference setback last week at West Alabama, one in which Shorter rolled up a season high 436 yards on the ground was the team's entire offensive output as they didn't complete a pass.

Junior fullback B.J. McCoy became the GSC's leading rusher – he averages 138.3 yards a game – against UWA by running for 210 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns, one that went for a conference-best 92 yards. For that performance, McCoy was named this week's GSC Offensive Player of the Week.

Shorter leads the GSC in rushing averaging 271 yards an outing, the biggest damage being down in the Hawks last four games with the team grinding out an average of 358 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Hawks boast the top two tacklers in the GSC in junior linebacker Zach Butts and senior All-American safety Jordan Shaw, with Butts averaging 10.2 tackles and Shaw 8.2. Shorter boasts the No. 2 passing defense in the league, which could be tested when the Blazers come to Rome for the second time.

In last week's 34-7 conference win over Mississippi College, which snapped a two-game GSC losing streak, the Blazers (4-2, 1-2) compiled 450 offensive yards, 294 of that coming through the air thanks to a combined passing performance from senior E.J. Hilliard and red-shirt freshman Roland Rivers, who led the pair with 197 yards. Hilliard leads the team in passing having completed 91 of 148 yards for 924 yards and nine touchdowns.

The Blazers, however, also proved last week that they can move the ball on the ground as five different runners reached double figures in rushing yards. Leading VSU's balanced run game is Cedric O'Neal, who averaged 5.2 yards a carry and has scored six touchdowns this season.

Defensively, Valdosta has the third best defense in the conference, giving up just 317 yards a game, and last week came up with a near perfect performance last week when the Blazers held the Choctaws scoreless over the first three quarters and allowed just 69 passing yards.

"Valdosta State has been a great program for a long time," Jones said about the coach David Dean-led Blazers. They do an excellent job on both sides of the ball and are well-coached on both sides.

"It'll take the ultimate effort by all of us."

NOTES: Fans can listen to the game on the "Home of the Hawks", 99.5 The Jock, or watch the game on ESPN3 with Don Russell doing the play-by-play and Rick Rhoades providing the color commentary for the GSC-TV Game of the Week… This is Shorter's eighth appearance on the GSC-TV Game of the Week with the Hawks still seeking their first win in front of the cameras… Valdosta's only other visit to Rome came in 2012 – it was Shorter's first-ever GSC-TV game at Barron – with the Blazers taking a 37-6 win.