Battle of the foes in red: North Greenville takes on Valdosta State on Homecoming
Brayden Allen, Sports Editor
The pads clashed and the fans cheered as the annual homecoming game took place this past weekend, matching North Greenville up against conference opponent Valdosta State.
This marked just the fourth ever match up between the Crusaders and the Blazers since NGU joined the Gulf South Conference in 2018. In addition, this was the second straight homecoming matchup between the two teams in Younts Stadium.
An all red uniformed, North Greenville team stormed out the tunnel to an eruption of cheers and applause, coming off an exciting, 34-33 victory over West Alabama. The team looked to repeat their success, only this time facing a Valdosta State team that bested the Crusaders in their past three meetings.
Defense was key early on as both teams struggled on offense, going three-and-out on their opening drives.
A fumble by the Blazer offense, forced by sophomore defensive lineman Shayne Monsanto and recovered by sophomore outside linebacker Tremaine Epps, gave North Greenville the momentum needed to strike first. Freshman quarterback Dylan Ramirez called his own number, taking the ball in for the score from two yards out.
Following an additional stalled drive from the VSU offense, a joint effort from the Blazer defense and special teams pinned the Crusaders inside their own 15 yard line. The drive ended as Valdosta State found their way on to the scoreboard, blocking the North Greenville punt, returning it for a touchdown.
An additional touchdown from Ramirez to senior wide receiver Quentin Sanders saw the Crusader offense continue to open up going into the second quarter.
Sophomore tight end AJ Tolbert continued to make a big impact for the second week in a row, connecting with Ramirez for a touchdown putting NGU up 21-7. The Blazers responded on the next drive, scoring on a 72 yard touchdown pass.
North Greenville closed out the first half with a strong effort on both sides of the ball. Junior running back Corey Watkins added his name to the list, scoring on a 38 yard run to put the Crusaders back up by two scores.
While Watkins made an impact early, he believed his performance hindered the team’s success.
“It’s cool to get a touchdown but I feel like I didn’t do enough to help,” Watkins said. “I have high standards for myself and I just didn’t meet them. I know when I’m on my game my team is impacted by it. At the end of the day I just gotta be better and do more.”
The NGU defense held the lead at 28-14 as they blocked VSUs’ field goal attempt as time expired.
After the homecoming queen was crowned and the flowers were presented, the tide unfortunately began to shift in the second half.
Offensive and defensive struggles continued to plague the Crusaders. A much improved Blazers offense seized every opportunity, scoring back to back touchdowns, tying the game at 28.
An effort by the North Greenville special team began to show some life for the team as senior punter Myles Prosser pinned the Blazers deep, inside their own 10 yard line. The defense forced VSU to stall, setting up a key opportunity for the Crusader defense.
Sophomore outside linebacker John Porter seized the moment, taking the VSU punter down in the endzone, forcing the safety and giving the Crusaders their first lead of the second half, 30-28.
This was the first career safety for Porter and one of the highlights of his young career.
“It felt great,” Porter said. “Getting the safety for our team was huge, especially after a series of things not going our way. I felt like it gave our team a little spark to get our momentum starting back up.”
The battle continued as the third quarter came to a close as Valdosta State scored on a 13 yard rush. North Greenville responded, taking their final lead of the game with a seven yard touchdown pass from Ramirez to senior wide receiver Tyler Hamilton, putting the score at 37-36.
The fourth quarter saw the struggles come to a height for the Crusaders as Valdosta State would regain the lead, scoring three unanswered touchdowns and securing the win with a 58-37 victory.
Improvement will be key as NGU closes out the season.
“I feel like despite the record, we have one of the best teams in the GSC,” Watkins said. “We just have to learn to be in tune with each other. We have a strong team we’ve just got to finish.”
North Greenville looks to bounce back on the road for their final road matchup at Shorter before returning home for their final game of the 2022 season with a rematch against West Georgia.
