National Champions

Road to the Throne

Written by: Joshua Miller | Photography by: Eric Vinson, Juston Lewis, and Beth Tate

Valdosta State’s football team finished 2018 as Division II national champions in a season that can only be recognized as the best in program history.

The Blazers not only won every game, but they dominated just about every opponent that stood in their way.

VSU entered the season unranked and was pegged as the fifth seed in the Gulf South Conference for the preseason polls. Even though the Blazers finished with an unflattering 5-4 record in 2017, the rankings seemed like a slight toward the program given that their 2017 campaign was handicapped.

The end of 2017 was a time for the Blazers to find themselves. Quarterback Rogan Wells earned the starting spot as a freshman, and head coach Kerwin Bell decided to invest most of his recruitment in building around Wells.

Bell brought in a recruiting class of freshmen and transfers that was the perfect match of speed, strength, and skill to his current roster.

Another significant change was that Bell turned to his son, Kade Bell, and gave him the responsibilities of offensive coordinator after serving as the quarterbacks coach for two seasons.

These alterations to the roster were vital to the team’s upcoming season, and when they kicked off 2018, VSU hit the ground running.

The first two games were out-of-conference matchups in which VSU blew out each team by at least 30 points. Week 3 was their first high profile matchup against West Alabama, who was ranked No. 8 in the nation at the time.

VSU quickly showed that being No. 8 in the nation was not enough to top them, and the Blazers won 58-24. This signified that the Blazers were going to be much better than many expected.

The Blazers swept through the next six games, scoring a total of 317 points and allowing 133 points against them. By this time, VSU was a threat across the nation but still didn’t reap the same respect as their rivals did all season long.

VSU played West Georgia for the regular season finale and the GSC championship. At this point, VSU ranked No. 5 in the nation, while West Georgia ranked third, but when the game kicked off, rank was thrown out the window.

VSU proved that their highest scoring offense in the nation was impossible to conquer. VSU took the GSC Championship in a 47-31 victory and earned the top seed in the region.

The Blazers proved the doubters were wrong, but they had completed

just one half of their goal. The next half was the playoffs; VSU had a first-round bye and held homefield advantage until the championship.

They were now legitimate threats to win it all.

Their first matchup was against Bowie State and the nation’s leader in passing yards, Amir Hall. The game was competitive in the first half, but the Blazers figured out Bowie State by halftime and outscored them 45-0 in the second half. The Blazers advanced to the quarterfinals in a 66-16 victory.

Lenoir-Rhyne was next on the Blazers’ hitlist, and that game was far from competitive. VSU won with ease 61-21 and had two more games before etching themselves in DII football history.

Notre Dame College was next and showed the Blazers resistance for the first time in the postseason. Notre Dame’s running back, Jaleel Mc- Laughlin, led the nation in rushing yards and was another Harlon Hill finalist.

The Blazers showed resiliency when they needed it and squeezed out a 30-24 victory after Notre Dame College tried to make a comeback in the final minutes of regulation. This game was the perfect scenario of give and take that the Blazers needed exposure to before entering the national championship.

Their ticket was now stamped to the grandest stage in DII football, and VSU flew down to McKinney, Texas, to face Ferris State and quarterback Jayru Campbell. Campbell ended up winning the Harlon Hill Trophy as Wells finished second in voting.

The match was set: Two undefeated teams, the Harlon Hill Trophy winner against the runner-up, clashed together

for the national championship. It was an instant classic, like two heavyweights standing in the middle of the ring going blow for blow for the title.

The game came down to Ferris State’s final drive. VSU was up 49- 41 as Ferris State started their drive with 2:17 left in the game. Campbell marched them downfield, and Ferris State ended up scoring with 45 seconds left. The score was now 49-47.

A 2-point conversion was needed to force overtime. Ferris State’s Jevon Shaw rolled out and found his receiver streaking open in the end zone, but the pass sailed right over the fingertips of the Ferris State receiver and landed incomplete.

The Blazers ran the clock out and were then crowned national champions.

“When we started here three years ago, we had a plan,” Kerwin Bell said after the championship win. “And we stuck to that plan and knew exactly what we needed to do to get the job done. … We found some guys who really became champions on the field tonight. That makes me proud of our coaches and our players. They gave me everything I’ve asked for the last three years to get us to where we are today.”

Most of VSU’s impact players are set to return in 2019, but there will be a few faces missing on the sidelines.

In January, Bell took the job as offensive coordinator at University of South Florida; offensive line coach Jeremy

Darveau followed Bell and will coach the offensive line at USF. Another departure was defensive coordinator Danny Verpaele. He left for the defensive backs coaching position at Kennesaw State.

That leaves Kade Bell and the other position coaches on staff, for now. The good news is that Bell led an offense that averaged a nation-leading 52.2 points per game and the Blazers will still have a talented roster.

Nonetheless, the hiring of a new head coach may shift their chances of repeating as national champions in 2019.