By: Lloy Hudson

Sports Editor

Valdosta State fell 38-14 to The Citadel on Saturday at Johnson Hagood Stadium, as the Bulldogs capitalized on early momentum and tough conditions to hand the Blazers their third straight loss.

The Citadel (3-3) jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 24-0 before halftime.

“We’ve been put in that situation a couple times and it’s not a situation you want to be in,” said Head Coach Graham Craig. “But I thought our guys did a good job of coming right back and getting our energy back.”

Craig credited his defense for settling down after the early deficit and praised the effort despite the slow start. “Our defense had kind of settled in a little bit at that point and had gotten a couple stops,” he said. “We had some momentum going into halftime.”

The windy conditions with gusts reaching up to 40 mph  also factored into the game. “It definitely changes what you can do offensively,” Craig said. “Special teams is where it had a huge impact. When you’re kicking into the wind, you have to squib it, and throwing the football gets a lot tougher.”

With an open week ahead, the Blazers will look to regroup before returning home for Homecoming against North Greenville.

“Just didn’t handle the conditions well early in the game,” Craig said. “Once we settled in, we had some chances to get back in it but didn’t make the necessary plays. We’ve got a lot of injuries to take care of during the bye week and have to get ready for conference play.”