No. 3 UWF Argos Fall In Heartbreaking OT Loss To Valdosta

November 16, 2025

The hopes carried by UWF’s football team Saturday to celebrate an unbeaten regular season and first outright Gulf South Conference title before a record home crowd were dashed in a stunning end.

After the No. 3-ranked Argos (9-1) tied the game in the final minute, they whiffed on an overtime possession and Valdosta State kicker Matt Rolader drilled a 37-yard field goal, giving the Blazers a walk-off 47-44 upset win at PenAir Field that will reshape the seeding and NCAA Division II playoff picture.

It was an emotion-numbing experience for UWF and the 5,754 fans who watched a wild, back-and-forth game of big plays, big mistakes and emotional swings.

“Obviously a little frustrated with how we played,” said UWF coach Kaleb Nobles. “We didn’t play our best, but we still gave them everything we had to take it to overtime. We’ll let this hurt for 24 hours and see how we respond. We still have a chance to make a run in the playoffs and we’ve got to get a lot better.”

In another riveting game in this rivalry, it featured a combined 948 yards total offense by the teams and five times when the score was tied.

The Blazers (6-4) won their fourth straight game and captured their 12th GSC title after starting the season 2-4. It was Valdosta State’s first overtime game since UWF beat the Blazers 32-31 in 2022. Each team has produced big wins on the other team’s home field.

On Saturday, UWF’s downfall was committing three turnovers, missing three field goals and an extra point. UWF also had some crucial penalties and could not get enough defensive stops in the final three quarters.

“I was on the players a bunch about it in the locker room and the nice thing is they are saying the same thing I”m saying now,” Nobles said. “We’ve got to get better, we gotta get more disciplined.
“We are going to get those things fixed. We’ll coach them up and if guys can’t do it, they won’t be on the playoff roster.”

Had they won, the Argos would have been the No. 1 seed in their eight-team Super Region bracket with a home-field advantage through the first three rounds. Now, it’s anyone’s guess how the pairings will shake out when the entire NCAA Division II playoff field is revealed at 5 p.m. Sunday on the selection show that will be live streamed on NCAA.com.

UWF is assured a first-round home game, but it gets dicier after that. Valdosta State was cited Friday by the GSC for using an ineligible player for its first eight games. That player did not play in the upset wins against Delta State or UWF in the final two games, but the Blazers’ win against West Alabama was declared a conference loss by the GSC.

It will be up to the NCAA football selection committee to determine how that affects the region pairings. Winning the GSC was set to bring an automatic spot in the playoffs.

“We’re in the playoffs and did our job getting that far,” Nobles said. “I know that we’re probably going to have to go on the road in the maybe the second or third round, but our guys have to be ready. Doesn’t matter about location, we have to be ready to play and I will do my job to get them ready to play.”

Here’s how Saturday’s game unfolded.

FIRST HALF
After missing a field goal on their second possession, the Argos produced a pair of touchdowns on a big play and a long drive to jump to a 13-0 lead.

Facing 3rd-and-12 from the UWF 40, quarterback Marcus Stones threw a deep pass under pressure that receiver Corey Scott outleaped a VSU defender for the ball inside Blazers territory and ran the distance for a 60-yard touchdown and the game’s first points.

After another defensive stop, the Argos scored again when Jayon Swinton caught a 21-yard scoring pass with 3:52 left in the quarter. But the extra point was blocked by the Blazers and returned for a 2-point play at the other end zone.

On their next possession, UWF was poised to expand the lead, but ball was punched loose. The Blazers recovered and this became a pivotal moment.

Valdosta State scored a pair of touchdowns less than two minutes apart, following another UWF fumble to take a 16-13 lead and turn the game into a back-and-forth battle the rest of the way.
The Argos tied the game on freshman kicker Brogan Woeber’s field goal and regained the lead on TJ Lane’s 10-yard score, following a big hit on VSU quarterback Jameson Holcomb and fumble recovery.

But the Blazers answered to tie the game with 1:55 left in the half.

Undaunted, UWF answered right back with Stokes finishing a 75-yard scoring drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Scott with 28 seconds left before halftime. It gave UWF a 30-23 halftime lead.

SECOND HALF
After UWF failed on a fourth-down conversion through a penalty, VSU tied the game with a 75 yard drive in three plays. A personal foul penalty followed a long pass completion and led to the tying score.

The Argos went up 37-30 after an interception by Chester Fearon and return to the Blazers 7. After Stokes’ run was nullified by a taunting penalty against him, he made amends two plays later with a TD pass to Tyree Holloway.

But this is where another big sequence unfolded. The Blazers reeled off more big plays to set up touchdown run and tied the game 37-37 with 1:56 left in the third quarter.

They took a 44-37 lead after Stokes threw an interception the end zone early in the fourth quarter, then another chance was missed when UWF smothered a botched punt at the Blazzers 27. UWF’s offense failed to deliver and Woeber missed a 44-yard field goal.

This time, VSU answered with six play drive where Holcomb made three big pass plays to set up the go-ahead scored.

The game reached its dramatic point in the final three and a half minutes.

UWF failed to convert a 4th-and-1 situation at the Valdosta 21 with 3:29 left when tailback Jay Sharp was ruled down inches short of the mark.

The Argos used their remaining timeouts, got a defensive stop and the ball back with 2:26 remaining at their own 43. They tied the game with 28 seconds left when Stokes connected with Holloway on a 35-yard pass that had the crowd screaming in delight.

Nobles signaled for a two-point conversion try and bold move to try and take the lead and win the game. But it never happened. The Argos were cited for a delay of game penalty following a late substitution and were forced to kick the extra point.

“We had a little miscommunication on something,” Nobles said. “I’m not going to go into detail about it, but we had played a lot of plays and I felt like (players) were tired on both sides, so I felt let’s go win the thing right now.”

OVERTIME
The Blazers won the coin toss. That proved pivotal. They elected to play defense first.

UWF lost a yard on its first play, after Lane was smothered on a running play. The next two plays were incomplete passes by Stokes. That forced a 41-yard field goal attempt by Woeber that was deflected and fell way short.

“Four bad plays in a row to end the game will definitely keep me up (Saturday night),” Nobles said. “Not very happy about it. We didn’t really do what we were supposed to do on any of those plays.
“So our guys have to improve on it, they have execute what we’re trying to do and we’ve got to do better as coaches in preparing them.”

The Blazers gained five yards on their possession from the 25, but had the ball right in the center of the field, easing the field goal attempt that split through the uprights to win the game.

Comments

One Response to “No. 3 UWF Argos Fall In Heartbreaking OT Loss To Valdosta”

  1. Rodbey on November 16th, 2025 3:10 pm

    UWF has become a football powerhouse and this is a great asset for the university.

    The coaches, staff and players through the years all deserve credit for building the program.

    Congratulations to the current team on a season of success





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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports