CARROLLTON, Ga. - For the first time since 2017, the West Georgia Wolves were victorious in the Battle for the Peach Basket as the 25th-ranked Wolves rolled to a dominant, 54-17 victory over archival Valdosta State on Saturday night at Ra-Lin Field.
On a night that saw the 1982 Division National Championship Team enshrined in the UWG Athletics Hall of Fame, West Georgia (5-2, 3-2 GSC) put up 596 yards of total offense which was the fifth-most all-time and the most ever against Valdosta State (3-5, 1-4 GSC). The Wolves' 54 points was also the most points scored in the 42-year history of the UWG-VSU rivalry.
Leading the way was the senior combo of Harrison Frost and Jaxton Carson. Frost had arguably his best game of the season, going 26-of-34 for 337 yards and four touchdowns. Carson, who continues to be a force in the ground game, had his third three-touchdown game of the season and finished with 175 yards, giving him four straight 100-yard games.
Not to be outdone, the UWG defense held Valdosta State's third-ranked offense to 17 points and 314 yards of total offense, which were both season-lows for the Blazers.
West Georgia opened the game with a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive in which Frost found Tre Williams for a seven-yard score to open the scoring.
After VSU answered, UWG got the first of Carson's three touchdowns, on a two-yard run, but a missed PAT made it 13-7 lead. On VSU's next drive, the Wolves' defense would get their first stop, albeit in the redzone, which resulted in a 26-yard Estin Thiele field goal that made it 13-10.
Carson then found the end zone again to make it 20-10, but VSU answered right back with a big, 58-yard touchdown pass to cut the UWG lead back to three.
Late in the half, VSU opted to go for it on fourth and short in UWG territory, Keondre Williams came up big and stuffed Ivory Durham to turn the ball over on downs. West Georgia capitalized as Frost found Steven Peterson with 32 seconds left to make it a 27-17 halftime.
The UWG defense then pitched a second half shutout, allowing just 118 yards by the Blazer offense, and forcing two turnovers. The first turnover was on VSU's first possession of the second half, which UWG converted on a 25-yard pass from Frost to Terrill Cole. Those two would connect again just minutes later, making it 41-17.
Kadarius Satterwhite had the second UWG turnover, picking off Durham at the UWG two-yard line to keep the Blazers out of the end zone, and the Wolves marched it 97 yards and capped it off with Carson's final touchdown of the game.
Redshirt freshman had the final UWG touchdown of the night as he found the end zone for the first time in his career to account for the final score.
Frost completed passes to 12 different receivers with Tay Britt and Iyan Hinkle being his top targets with four catches.Britt led the way in receiving yards with 95.
For the second straight game, linebacker Xavier Robinson led the way defensively with nine tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss with a forced fumble.
The Wolves are at home again in seven days, playing host to another in-state rival, the Shorter Hawks in the final regular season home game. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. with Senior Day festivities set for pregame.
