Blazers’ offense balanced

onship game in 11 years, and coach David Dean has been around for all of them. He was the offensive coordinator under former coach Chris Hatcher when the Blazers lost in 2002 and won their first title in 2004.

He replaced Hatcher in 2007 and led Valdosta State to the national championship that season. Now he’s back with a team he said compares favorably to his first.

“We don’t have any players still around from that year. This is a whole new crew, but our players this year remind me a lot of that team,” Dean said. “From our confidence level, to our work ethic, to our leadership, there are a lot of similarities.”

And like their successful predecessors, these Blazers are experts at offense, scoring with ease at times.

They’re averaging 219.8 yards rushing and 261.3 yards passing a game. They’ve scored 37 touchdowns on the ground and 35 through the air.

Its offense is so remarkably balanced, Valdosta State is on the verge of having two 1,000-yard rushers and two 1,000yard receivers.

Cedric O’Neal (Dublin) has 1,058 yards rushing and 13 scores and fellow freshman Austin Scott (Hardaway) has 992 yards and nine touchdowns after rushing for 158 yards in the Blazers’ 35-19 semifinal victory over previously undefeated Minnesota State-Mankato last Saturday.

“We just have to open a hole, because those freshman running backs will find it and hit it,” right guard Edmund Kugbila (Central Gwinnett) said. “They get us going. They’re just freshmen. I can’t wait to see them in the future because they’re going to be great players.”

Gulf South Conference offensive player of the year Gerald Ford (Gainesville) has 68 catches for 1,018 yards and 13 touchdowns, followed closely by Jones, who has 49 catches for 916 yards and 13 scores.

Quarterback Cayden Cochran, who walked on at Oklahoma before trans- ferring to Valdosta State, has thrown for 2,601 yards and 25 touchdowns despite missing time with a shoulder injury.

Kugbila and four other seniors, including AllAmerica left tackle Ryan Schraeder, start on the offensive line. They haven’t missed a game.

“We have a lot of weapons at receiver and running back and we prepare well every week,” Kugbila said. “People see how well we prepare when we get on the field. The coaches have good game plans and we execute them.”

The Blazers started the season 2-2, losing their opener at Saginaw Valley State and falling to West Alabama on Sept. 22, a defeat that kept them from winning the conference title.

But they haven’t lost since, even eliminating West Alabama in the first round of the playoffs with a 49-21 win Nov. 24.

“We knew we weren’t playing our best when we were 2-2, but we stuck together and kept going,” Jones said. “Even then, we knew what we could do. We knew we could still reach our goal of making the playoffs. We kept driving until the national championship game.”