VALDOSTA, Ga. — The end to a historic 2024 season came on Saturday afternoon at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium as No. 22
Miles lost to No. 1 Valdosta State 33-17. The loss snapped the Golden Bears' 10-game win streak but did not put a damper on a campaign that saw the team reach several significant milestones, including most victories, most consecutive wins in a single year, and a first-ever win in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
Miles (10-3) had several opportunities early to make the game a lot closer early. But the Golden Bears never got in the end zone in the first three quarters, being held to a 28-yard field goal by
Roderick Smith over the first 30 minutes. After driving from its own 1-yard line to get the ball to midfield late in the second quarter,
Kamren Ivory threw an interception that VSU (11-0) converted into a field goal at the end of the half for a 16-3 advantage.
The Golden Bears held serve through most of the third quarter before VSU took control. Facing a third-and-goal from the Miles 18, the Blazers got the benefit of a personal file penalty that gave them new life. Blake Hester punched it in from three yards out with 37 seconds left to extend the lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Miles was unable to recover the kickoff and VSU recovered at the Miles 13. After a penalty, Hester scored his third touchdown of the game on an 18-yard run, giving VSU two touchdowns in nine seconds and a 30-3 lead with 27 seconds left in the third.
Miles got touchdown passes from Ivory to
Jaih Andrews (six yards) and
Franck Pierre (20 yards) in the fourth quarter, but the hole was far too steep from which to climb back even. Ivory finished with 224 yards passing,
Jonero Scott was the top rusher (54 yards on 17 carries) and
Jaquel Fells led the receivers with 92 yards on seven receptions.
Defensively,
Jeremiah Hudson-Davis had a team-high seven tackles and
Lashon Young added six stops.
Jamichael Rogers (five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss) and
Zion Sharpe (three tackles, sack) were strong on the line of scrimmage as well for the Golden Bears.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.