November 4th, 2021 5:00am
2021 GSC – WEEK 10 Preview
Erskine vs Shorter
Erskine travels to Rome to play Shorter this Saturday. The Flying Fleet enter this week’s matchup with a record of 3-6, losing most recently to Newberry 48-10. The Fleet are only in their second season playing football, with last spring being their first intercollegiate action. Erskine averages 25 points per game offensively, while giving up 36 points per game. The offense averages around 330 yards a game, most of which comes through the air. This matches up well against Shorter, whose defense allows just under 260 yards passing per game. Look for the Hawks defense to ground the pass and force the Fleet to run the football. Shorter will look to get a win in this late non-conference game and build momentum going into next week’s season finale.
Prediction: Shorter
Mississippi College vs Delta State
This matchup has a direct impact on Gulf South Conference standings. Each team enters Saturday at 2-4 in Gulf South action. Mississippi College played West Florida tough last week at home, before letting it slip away in the second half. The Choctaws and Argos were tied at 28 going into the half, West Florida scored 35 unanswered to ice the game in the second half. Last week the Statesmen needed a touchdown with three minutes left in regulation to defeat Shorter at home. Shorter got out to an early 13-0 lead before the Statesman got on the board with a 2ndquarter touchdown by Deion Dampier. Dampier broke another run for 91 yards and a touchdown with 7:16 remaining in the game to complete the comeback for Delta State. Delta State gets back their leader Todd Cooley for this game! Look for the Seniors to have a little extra juice in this one for the Statesmen as they close out their home schedule in 2021.
Prediction: Delta State
West Florida vs West Alabama
The Argos needed a 35-point second half to put away Mississippi College last week 63-28. West Florida has now won two in a row, moving to 4-1 in Gulf South play and second place in the conference standings. The high scoring Argo offense is averaging 46 points per game, while allowing 24 points per game. Meanwhile, West Alabama got back in the win column last week, defeating North Greenville 31-14. The Tiger win ended a brief two game losing streak and kept their post-season hopes alive. This game should provide plenty of fireworks with two high powered offenses. The intrigue with this one comes down to what can the West Alabama defense do to limit Austin Reed and the West Florida offense. The Tigers will need to create turnovers and force the Argos to go three-and-out to keep them out of the endzone. In the end, the West Florida offense will be too explosive for the Tigers, setting up next week’s big matchup with Valdosta State.
Prediction: West Florida
North Greenville vs Valdosta State
North Greenville travels to Valdosta State this week looking to pull off the upset of the season. The Crusaders are 4-5 on the season, 1-3 in conference play so far. A win this week would give the Crusaders much needed momentum as they head into the last week of the season. The North Greenville offense had a hard time getting much going last week, moving the ball for only 186 yards and scoring 14 points. Defensively however; the Crusaders were unable to slow the Tiger offense that tallied 31 points and 406 yards. On the flip side, Valdosta State won a pivotal game against West Georgia, a matchup of two of the best teams in the country. Valdosta State was able to weather the storm of the high-powered Wolves offense and convert some crucial third downs in route to the victory. It is homecoming and senior day this week for the Blazers in Titletown! Some people may think this is a trap game for Valdosta State. Look for Gary Goff’s squad to get out of the gate early in this one!
Prediction: Valdosta State