The VSU Blazers return from the bye to take on the Miles College Golden Bears in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.   

The Blazers come in fresh off the bye as the number one seed in the Region and look to continue their undefeated season. The last time the Blazers took the field ended with a dominant win against the West Florida Argonauts 28-7 to claim the GSC championship and secured them the number one seed in the Region for the playoffs.   

During the bye week, several Blazers were named to the GSC all-conference team and head coach, Tremaine Jackson, was named Co-Coach of the Year.  

They have been led all year by the stunning play of recently named GSC offensive players. 

 Quarterback Sammy Edwards comes into this playoff matchup amid a stellar, efficient season as he has 23 passing touchdowns to just two interceptions to this point and he also contributed rushing touchdowns on the year. He has been complemented this season by a stellar two-headed monster at running back with Blake Hester and Alfonso Franklin, who both have 11 rushing touchdowns.  

Their opponent is the Miles College Golden Bears, who come into this matchup with a win over the Carson Newman Eagles 14-13, their first Division II playoff win in school history. After dropping their first two games of the season, they have rattled off ten straight victories. They are led on offense by quarterback, Kam Ivory, who has thrown 14 touchdowns and five interceptions. Like the Blazers, they have a potent rushing attack with Jonero Scott, who leads the team in rushing yards at 657, and Javonta Leatherwood, who leads the team in rushing touchdowns with 11. 

This game is the only second meeting between the two schools as they are only ever meeting up until this point since 2022, when the Blazers dominated the Golden Bears 55-7 on the road in Fairview, Alabama.  

The Golden Bears have faced a few familiar opponents to the Blazers as they faced VSU GSC rival, West Alabama, in the first game of the season, where they lost on a walk-off field goal 16-15 and the Albany State Golden Rams in which they won 32-21.  

The Blazes are looking to advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive season, while the Golden Bears are looking for their second playoff win in school history at the Division II level.  

Written by Christopher Mercer, Sports Editor. Photo courtesy of Gulf South Conference.