FORT VALLEY, Ga. (Football) –The Lions looked to keep the momentum of their Homecoming win alive but fell just short as they were defeated by Fort Valley, 23-10. Paine (1-7, 0-4 SIAC) hung in there with Fort Valley (6-2, 4-1 SIAC) but was unable to overcome the Wildcats offense as they scored a touchdown in three of four quarters on Saturday.
This contest was the first between the schools since 1946 when Paine walked away with the victory over the Wildcats. Fort Valley came into today's contest as third best scoring offense in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while the Lions were ranked the fourth in the conference for total defense.
In the first quarter, the Wildcats jumped out to an early lead when Otis Brown threw a 32 yard pass to Drelon Freeman for the first score of the game and Juan Serna made the point after at the 5:55 mark in the first quarter, 0-7.
With 1:24 left in the first quarter, Paine responded in kind with a touchdown courtesy of
Antonio White. White caught a short pass from
Loranzo Hammonds to score and Wisdom Ndizee picked up the extra point, 7-7.
Ndizee would get another chance to show off his golden leg and put up three more points at 5:45 in the second quarter, 10-7.
Fort Valley rallied with: 10 left in the first half to score a touchdown as Jalen White slipped through the Lions defense and Serna made the point after, 14-10.
The Wildcats defense was able to break Paine's offensive line to pick a safety at 2:51 for the only score of the third quarter, 10-16. Fort Valley's defense would score the final touchdown when Michael Lee was able to intercept Hammonds' pass and run the ball back with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter, 23-10.
Paine ended the game with 291 total offensive yards and one touchdown. Hammonds finished the game 19 of 36 for 186 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Diquan Richardson and
Vincent Thomas were the top tacklers for the Lions with six each.
The Wildcats finished the day with 247 total offensive yards and three touchdowns. Brown was the top passer for Fort Valley as he went 8 of 17 for 177 passing yard and one touchdown. Defensively, Brian Walker had the most tackles with seven. Walker, Lee and Dominique Burks each had an interception.
The Lions return to action on Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. as they travel to Clark Atlanta for the Panther's Homecoming Game in Atlanta, Ga.
