GAME CENTRAL
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Savannah State Tigers (2-3, 1-2 SIAC)
vs.
Fort Valley Wildcats (4-1, 4-0 SIAC)
Oct. 7, 2023 | 6 p.m. | Wildcat Stadium | Fort Valley, Ga.
THE GAME
Coming off a tough back-to-back losses to Albany State University and Edward Waters University, the Savannah State University Tigers (2-3, 1-2 SIAC) hope to rebound as they hit the road to play Fort Valley State University (4-1, 4-0 SIAC) at Wildcat Stadium.
Savannah State and Fort Valley State have been playing each other since 1934. Although the Wildcats leads the all-time series 36-15-4, Savannah State has won the last three meetings between the schools. As history documents itself, whenever these teams play each other, you can throw the records out the window because it will be a Cat fight.
LAST YEAR
Savannah State nipped FVSU 28-24 on October 29 at Henderson Stadium in Macon, Georgia in the Central City Classic. Trailing 17-7 after three quarters of play, the SSU offense came alive in the fourth quarter as they scored three touchdowns to get the win. The Tigers produced 372 yards of offense. Quarterback Jadon Adams ran for 109 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns, including the game winner on a one-yard run with 1:03 left in the game. He also scored on a 60-yard run in the first quarter. Tavare Brewton had ten tackles for the defense.
COACHES QUOTE
SSU head coach Aaron Kelton says "We are getting better week to week and I am proud of the guys efforts. We have had chances to win the last two weeks and didn't. We need to continue to work and clean up the mistakes and that will allow us to continue to be in a winning position. We are making a hard push to bring success to the program and we want to WIN!!! It Hurts to lose and WINNING ALWAYS FEEL GOOD!!! All of our focus is on beating Fort Valley."
LAST WEEK
Savannah State lost a heart-breaker to Edward Waters 26-25 at Theodore A. Wright Stadium. SSU found themselves down 20-12, entering the final quarter of play but rallied with touchdowns from Brent Carr and Shamarcus Poole to take a 25-20 lead with just under five minutes remaining. A touchdown by EWC with 1:22 left put Savannah State down by one in the final moments. A game winning field goal attempt by Kenneth Lockhart with nine seconds left was no good as it hit the right upright, leaving Savannah State with a one point loss.
TOP OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
Quarterback Jadon Adams is the top offensive threat for Savannah State as he leads the team in passing and rushing. So far, the junior signal caller has completed 50.4 percent (70 of 139) of his passes for 846 yards with six touchdowns and one interception. He has also ran for two touchdowns and leads the team in rushing with 193 yards.
Tailback Shamarcus Poole has 175 yards and two touchdowns this season and is averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
Wide receiver Da'Shun Mitchell is the top pass catcher with 17 receptions for 239 yards while Brent Carr has 13 catches for 280 yards and five touchdowns.
TOP DEFENSIVE PLAYERS
Savannah State's defense is led by linebackers Tavare Brewton who has 39 tackles and Gary Davis who has contributed 29 tackles.Â
Defensive linemen Ameer Phillips and Nathaniel Chisholm leads the unit with five tackles for loss each. Phillips has two sacks while Chisholm has three.
Roaming the secondary is Kirk Smith and Deandre Creary. Both have two interceptions to their credit.
SPECIAL TEAMS
After missing the 2022 season while recovering from an injury, Kenneth Lockhart is back. In four games, he has punted 27 times and is averaging 38.5 yards per punt with a long of 53 yards. Eight have landed inside the opponents 20. He has made 5 of 7 field goal attempts and has a long of 37 yards
Joseph Hampton has 10 kick returns and is averaging 18.9 yards a return and Randy Scott has four kick returns and is averaging 26 yards a return.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Shawn Gibbs is in his second year as the head coach of Fort Valley State. Prior to coming to FVSU, Gibbs spent 19 seasons as both an assistant head coach and position coach at the collegiate level. His coaching experience includes stints at North Carolina A&T University, North Carolina Central University, and Grambling State University.
The Wildcats enter the contest on a high note after knocking off previous undefeated Allen last week 49-21. FVSU began the season with a loss to Tuskegee (37-31) but have strung together a four-game winning streak with victories over Clark Atlanta (40-17), Edward Waters (34-31), Kentucky State (31-9) and Allen.
FVSU is averaging 37 points and 367.6 yards a game while giving up 23 points and 362 yards a night.
Quarterback Kelvin Durham has thrown for 1,207 yards and a league-leading 12 touchdowns. He has also thrown three interceptions.
Durham will often throw to Corintheus Edmonds who has 15 receptions for 289 yards and a touchdown and Fraion Warren who has 15 catches for 268 yards and four touchdowns.
Brandon Marshall is the top ground gainer with 347 yards and four touchdowns. Kentrelle Williams is also a threat to run the ball with 218 yards and five scores.
The famed "Blue Death" defense will be anchored by Malik Harp (34 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss), Kamari Blankumsee (3 interceptions) and Adeon Farmer (3 sacks).
SSU/MIDDLE GEORGIA CONNECTION
Two of the best players in Savannah Stat history came from Middle Georgia. Macon native Robert Slocum was All – SEAC in 1950-51 and 1951-52 at halfback. He led the 1950 football team to the 1950 – 1951 Southeastern Athletic Conference (SEAC) football championship. Known as "Nancy Hanks" to many, he was also chosen as a two time Pittsburgh Courier All – American football player in 1950 – 1951 and 1951 – 1952. His son, Robert Jr. was a All-SIAC running back at SSU during the 1977 season.
Tim Walker was a four-year letterman (1976-80) for the Tigers. A native of Warner Robins, Walker was named to the Atlanta Constitution's All-SIAC Division III first team at middle linebacker in 1976, 77, 78 and 79. He was named to the 1979-80 Kodak All-America (College Division) First Team; he was the first player at Savannah State to be named to the Kodak All-America First Team. Walker was also named to 1979-80 Associated Press Small College All-America (honorable mention). In 1980, he was named Outstanding Athlete by the 100% Wrong Club of Atlanta, GA, and Georgia Amateur Athlete of the Year by the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Walker signed a free-agent contract with the NFL's Seattle Seahawks in 1980. He played for one year until a neck injury ended his career.
Slocum and Walker are both in the SSU Athletics Hall of Fame.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Wide receiver Brent Carr leads the SIAC in receiving touchdowns with five and is ranked #13 in Division II. Defensive back Dreshawn Dawkins is tied for the lead with two others in the SIAC for the most forced fumbles with two and is ranked #3 in Div. II.
SSU is ranked #6 in Division II with 6 fumble recoveries.
SSU/FVSU CONNECTION
FVSU offensive lineman Tahmaj Faust played his freshman year at Savannah State before transferring to Fort Valley State
PROTECTING THE BALL
SSU quarterbacks have only thrown one interception so far. Before last week's interception, the last interception thrown by a Tiger quarterback was October 29, 2022 against Fort Valley State.
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RECOVERY EFFORT
Dating back to last season, SSU has at least one fumble recovery in seven of their past eight games.
CHASING 1000
Quarterback Jadon Adams has thrown for 846 yards so far. He needs 154 more to reach 1,000 for the season.
POLL WATCHERS
Despite the loss to Edward Waters, Savannah State received two votes in the latest BOXTOROW Division II Coaches Poll
PRODUCTION TEAM
The SSU offense produced 340 yards last week against Edward Waters which was a season-best.
CHASING 100
Sophomore linebacker Tavare Brewton has recorded 39 tackles so far. He needs 61 more to reach 100 for the season
CLOSE TO HOME
Five SSU Tigers will be playing close to home when the team visits Fort Valley State. Running back Shamarcus Poole is from Sandersville, wide receiver Brent Carr is from Warner Robins, running back Jatavion Williams is from Macon, running back Evan Guyton is from Dublin and tight end Isaiah Austin is from Dublin.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
The SSU roster is made up of players from eight states (Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Connecticut, New York, California, Tennessee and Alabama) as well as the District of Columbia
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THE LEGACY CONTINUES
SSU defensive back Dwayne Ruff is the son of Savannah State alum Dwayne Ruff. The younger Ruff played three seasons at East Tennessee State. He earned his degree at ETSU and decided to play his final season of eligibility at SSU as a grad transfer. The elder Ruff was a two-sport student-athlete at SSU, playing football and basketball from 1986-89. He was a member of the 1989 team that included NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe that posted a 8-1 record.
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WELCOME TO THE MARSH
SSU head football coach Aaron Kelton welcomes two new coaches to his staff. Marking their first season at Savannah State are A.J. Walsh (offensive line) and Keon Cezar (defensive line).
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IN MEMORY
SSU mourns the loss of former Tigers head football coach Dr. Leo Richardson. He led the Tigers to a 6-2-1 record in 1967 which was good enough to win the Southeastern Athletic conference championship. That same year Richardson was named the SEAC Coach of the Year. In addition to coaching football at SSU, Richardson also served as the head men's basketball coach and a biology professor. He was inducted into the SSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010. Richardson died on July 23, 2023.
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TRANSFER U
SSU has 15 players on the roster that have transferred from other schools. The programs, which range from FBS to junior college, include East Tennessee State, Bryant University, Pittsburgh, North Carolina Central, Glennville State, Point University, Georgia Southern, Lane College, Grambling State, Albany State, Louisburg College, Hobart College, American River College, Los Angeles Valley Community College and Hutchinson Community College.
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SURVIVOR
SSU signee Kyle Frazier is a cancer survivor. Frazier was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in April 2019 but after chemotherapy treatments, he was declared cancer free in August 2019. The Augusta, Georgia native enrolled at SSU in January 2020 and joined the football team in 2021.He has made the all conference team his freshman and sophomore years.
FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE
Savannah State will appear on ESPN+ twice during the season.The Tigers will play Clark Atlanta on September 16 at Theodore A. Wright Stadium at 6 p.m. The 2023 SSU Homecoming match-up with Tuskegee University on October 21 will also appear on ESPN+ with a 3 p.m. kickoff.
HOME GROWN
SU has 14 players in its roster from ten different of the local high schools (Islands, Savannah High, Johnson, Windsor Forest, Memorial, Beach, Bethesda, New Hampstead, Calvary and Jenkins.
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THE SIZE OF IT
Freshmen linemen Kamrem Bing and Derrick Clark are the biggest players on the team. Bing, a offensive lineman weighs 340-pounds while Clark, a defensive lineman stands 6-foot-5. Freshman wide receiver Jason Cobb is the smallest player on the roster at 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds.
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GETTING THE MILES IN
SSU has six road games on the schedule with an average of 355 miles for each game. Tiger fans will travel to Lakeland, Florida (335 miles), Daytona Beach, Fla. (234 miles), Brunswick, Georgia (79 miles), Fort Valley, Ga. (175 miles), Wilberforce, Ohio (689 miles) and Jackson, Tennessee (620 miles).
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PRESEASON HONORS
During the SIAC Football Media Day in July, four SSU football players were named to the preseason all conference team. Offensive linemen Kyle Frazier and Riyon Adams and running back Shamarcus Poole were named to the First Team while punter/kicker Kenneth Lockhart was picked for the Second Team.
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WHAT'S IN A NAME
There are ten sets of players on the SSU roster that share the same last name. The team has three players with the last name of Williams, Brown and Johnson and seven sets with the last name of Roberts, Leonard, Adams, Bell, Davis, Hampton and Jones. Additionally there are players with the last name that is pronounced the same but spelled differently as in Brown/Browne and Clark/Clarke.
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