Terry had the biggest afternoon of anyone on the field, rushing for 139 yards on 23 carries. The Blazers rushed for 285 yards on 52 carries.

VSU’s offensive line deserved a lot of the credit for the running performance. The Blazers averaged four yards per carry in the first half, but increased it to 5.5 yards per carry for the entire game.

“I can’t say enough about our offensive line, and the way they played,” Dean said. “I thought they did a great job of opening holes. We challenged them in the second half, and said we were going to run the football. I think our offensive line and running backs did a good job of coming out and running the football right at them.”

The running game got into the end zone for the first time in the game on VSU’s next drive, a drive set up by another Harrison blocked kick. This time, the senior blocked a 41-yard field goal attempt, which Kenneth Hale picked up and ran 28 yards to the Indians’ 32-yard line.

After a long pass and a 10-yard Ronnye Nelson run, Terry rushed four yards into the end zone to make the score 27-16 in favor of the Blazers.

With VSU’s special teams contributing, the defense was not to be outdone. On the next drive, the Blazers halted a momentum-ending attempt by Catawba, as King intercepted a Roach pass at VSU’s 10-yard line. After three Terry runs, Cedric Jones turned a Copeland pass into a 27-yard touchdown.

The toss was Copeland’s second touchdown pass of the game. The senior quarterback finished with 171 yards on 16-of-29 passing.

With the Blazers ahead 34-16, the game appeared to be out of reach. Then the next play took any hope the Indians had of building momentum away.

The Blazers’ special teams again came up with a special play, this time on the kickoff return. Downs fumbled the ball for the second time on the night, this time on his own 24-yard line, and the Blazers recovered.

From there, VSU handed the ball to its workhorse, and Terry did the rest. The junior gained 16 and two yards on the first two plays, then crossed the goal line from one yard out for his second touchdown.

“On the return, we recovered. We were just starting to get momentum in the game, and we were able to get that,” Dean said. “That was huge.”

In the second half, it seemed like the wheels fell off for the Indians. VSU dominated the run game, controlled the special teams play and forced turnovers.

“We said we wanted to stop the run, take care of the football, play good special teams, and we didn’t do any of those things,” Hester said. “When you don’t do things that are key to winning a ballgame, you’re going to get beat badly. And that’s what happened to us.”

VSU added two more touchdowns, one on a 1-yard Scott Palmer run, and another on a 12-yard run by reserve quarterback Tucker Pruitt. The two scores were enough to overcome two touchdowns by the Indians late in the game.

The victory sets up a rematch between VSU and North Alabama. On Oct. 27, the Blazers came away with a 27-24 victory over the Lions. It is also a rematch of a 2005 playoff game, which the Lions won, 40-13, just three games after another three-point VSU victory.