Valdosta State and Albany State meet again inside Bazemore-Hyder

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Published: Sep. 16, 2021 at 10:31 PM EDT
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VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - It’s circled on the calendar every year.

The Valdosta State Blazers and Albany State Golden Rams are set to clash this weekend for the seventh straight season.

Two programs that have dominated their opponents so far this season and look to maintain their perfect record.

The Blazers own a 19-2 record against the Golden Rams and have won four of the last five and nine of the last ten in the series. Including a 38-3 victory in Albany in 2019, in the last match-up.

ASU won in 2017 for just its second victory in the series. The Blazers are 10-0 all-time against ASU in Valdosta.

For Head Coach Gabe Giardina and his Rams, their two wins this season come against Gulf South Conference teams.

For coach Gary Goff and his Blazers, the defense hasn’t allowed more than one touchdown in the first two contests.

This game could be one of the most evenly matched games in recent years.

”We just keep talking to our team that the most important team in this game is us. We just got to control what we can control and try to play our best game. I think we’ve been in some tighter games and so hopefully we have learned some lessons through that. I think we have a team that is kind of ready to deal with that adversity but also a team that’s confident.,” said Giardina.

Goff added, “The recipe to win a game doesn’t change. It’s a turnover battle, it’s third-down conversions and red-zone scoring and so again, we’ve been working hard on that this week. Offensively, knock on wood, has done a good job protecting the football. So, we’ve got to continue to do that and understand that when you play a really good team that margin of error is very, very small and we got to make sure we got there and we’re still playing fundamental football.”

Goff highlighted how competitive this game is shaping up to be, “They’re a good program, I tell you they’ve found their quarterback. That young man has had a great two games, it seems they’ve opened up their offense a little bit more because they can handle it, so they’re a little bit more spread. He can flat our run, himself. A really good player then and he has a really good supporting cast. Defensively, they swarm to the ball. It’s almost like looking at our defense in the mirror. I mean they’re physical, they fly to the ball, they create turnovers, I think they’re tied with us right now at seventh in the country on the turnover margin. So, very well-coached, very good football team.”

The Rams and Blazers kick off at 7 pm Saturday inside Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

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