VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Shorter Hawks traveled to Valdosta for their second conference game of the season against the No. 4 Blazers of Valdosta State University on Saturday night. Despite a valiant effort in the first half by Shorter, the Blazers proved to be too much in the second half, as the home team was victorious 49-13.

The Hawks found themselves down 14-0 to start the game but fought back and put seven on the board when quarterback Aeneas Dennis kept it himself for a 1-yard touchdown run with 9:16 left in the second quarter. After forcing a punt from VSU on their next series, Dennis added another touchdown for the Hawks, as he threw a 28-yard scoring pass to his tight end Kyle Morlock with 3:18 to go in the first half. That cut the score to 14-13, as the ensuing extra-point try failed due to a bad snap, and that proved to be the scoreline going into halftime.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, they could not do anything with that newly found momentum in the second half, as it was all Valdosta State from then onward. The VSU offense exploded for 35 unanswered points in the final two periods of the game to put the final result out of question, as the Blazers (4-0, 1-0) won 49-13.

A critical part of that second-half offensive explosion was the play of VSU quarterback Ivory Durham. Durham went 17-of-32 passing in the game for 258 yards, two touchdowns and an interception and added 82 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Two of those four total touchdowns came in the second half, including a 51-yard touchdown pass to Lio'undre Gallimore with 4:46 left in the game. VSU running backs Jamar Thompkins and Seth McGill had over 100 yards rushing apiece, and the aforementioned Gallimore led the Blazers in receiving with 135 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches.

As for Shorter, Dennis finished 12-of-24 passing for 136 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Noah Holland led the Hawks in rushing with 71 yards, and Morlock was tops in receiving with 68 yards on three receptions with the first-half touchdown. On the defensive side of the ball, Tim Walker and Kolby Reynolds led Shorter in total tackles with nine and eight, respectively. Teammate Devonn Lane also had an interception in the game.

The Hawks (2-3, 0-2) will be back at Barron Stadium next Saturday, as they will host the University of West Alabama at 1 p.m.