CARROLLTON, Ga. - Saturday's top-5 matchup in Valdosta on Saturday was the titanic battle that the Division II football world anticipated as the third-ranked West Georgia Wolves took on the 2nd-ranked Valdosta State Blazers. VSU jumped out to an early lead, but a furious second-half comeback fell just short for the Wolves in a 36-34 loss. 

Junior quarterback Harrison Frost connected on 27-of-43 passes in the game for 228 yards and three touchdowns, with top target Mechane Slade hauling in seven catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. Quan Harrison also caught a touchdown pass and was the leader in receiving yards on the night with six catches for 76 yards. Harrison also had a punt return for a touchdown, a 78-yard return in the second half that turned the momentum. 

It was a tale of two halves at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, with the Blazers holding the advantage in the first half and the Wolves owning the second half. 

Valdosta State scored quickly on the first drive of the game, taking just 1:59 to drive 75 yards, using just five plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 27-yard touchdown run from quarterback Ivory Durham. West Georgia responded with a drive into VSU territory that stalled at the 27, but Omar Cervantes nailed a 44-yard field goal to make it a 7-3 game. The Blazers came right back and Durham hit Noah Gillan for a 12-yard touchdown pass for a 14-3 lead. 

West Georgia came right back, as Frost marched the offensive unit down the field and had the Wolves knocking on the door of the goal line at the close of the first quarter. He and Harrison wasted little time in connecting for the only first-half touchdown on the first play of the second quarter with an amazing nine-yard touchdown pass. The pass looked to be too long in the left corner of the end zone, but Harrison pulled in an amazing nine-yard touchdown to make it a 14-10 game. 

Valdosta State added another score and Cervantes blasted another field goal, this time from 35 yards out, and it looked like the two teams would go into the locker room with VSU leading 20-13. But, with 13 seconds left in the opening period, Durham scored on a one-yard touchdown to make it 27-13 heading to the half. 

The Blazers looked to have everything in hand early in the second half, as the Wolves picked up two first downs before their opening drive of the period stalled out. After a Brock Pelligrino punt, VSU struck quickly on a 63-yard touchdown run from Jamar Thompkins for a 33-13 lead. 

Frost and the UWG offense took 10 plays to go 75 yards in an answer to Thompkins' touchdown with Frost connecting with Slade for the sixth time this season for a five-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to two scores. After a defensive stop, Harrison put the Wolves right back into the thick of it with a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 33-27 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. VSU responded with a 13-play, 72-yard drive that ate 6:32 on the clock, finishing with a 20-yard field goal with 11:28 remaining in the game. 

After a fumble on the kickoff gave the Wolves the ball at their own six yard line, the offense went on another big drive, marching 94 yards in 17 plays, ending with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Frost to Jace Jordan. A direct snap on the play went to Tyray Devezin when Frost was lined up at wideout. Devezin ran to his left, handing the ball off to Frost as he came back around. Frost delivered a strike to Jordan near the goal line and the senior dove into the end zone for the score with 3:09 left in the game. 

The Wolves mustered a tough effort on defense on the ensuing possession, but Durham put the game away with an eight-yard run on 3rd-and-8 with just over a minute remaining, allowing VSU to run out the clock. 

West Georgia falls to 7-2 on the year and 5-2 in Gulf South Conference play while VSU moves to 8-0 overall and 6-0 against league opponents. The Wolves will be back in action in two weeks, taking on Delta State on Senior Day at RA-LIN Field on November 13. VSU takes on North Greenville next weekend before closing the season against West Florida on November 13.