The Thursday night SIAC HBCU Football matchup between Fort Valley State and Clark Atlanta University was a heavyweight matchup that will have fans talking about this game all season. Clark Atlanta scored 16 unanswered points in the first half and led 16-7 in the game. Fort Valley went into the half and made their adjustments, scoring 14 unanswered points, to retake the lead going into the fourth quarter.
Fort Valley State True Freshman dual-threat quarterback Don Hudson Jr proved he is ready to lead the Wildcats this season as their starting quarterback. Hudson completed 21 out of 26 passes for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns. to J.T.Pendleton caught 7 passes for 74 yards. Hudson made the necessary reads on the field to keep the Panthers’ defense guessing whether he was going to run or pass the ball. Hudson rushed the ball 23 times for 119 yards. Michael Cabellero scored the rushing touchdown for the Wildcats on 7 carries for 22 yards.
The Panthers’ defense slowed down the Wildcats’ rushing attack, which had allowed two previous fourth-down conversions by Fort Valley State when they rushed the ball. They say a third time is a charm, and the Wildcats decided to throw for the fourth down, but defensive back David Pope batted David Hudson Jr.’s pass away, giving the Clark Atlanta offense another possession to regain the lead. With a little over 7 minutes left in the game, Pope batted down Wildcats quarterback Don Hudson Jr.’s pass on fourth down. Clark Atlanta quarterback Zy McDonald led the Panthers’ offense on a scoring drive, throwing a touchdown pass to Armone Harris, who caught 6 passes for 78 yards, to retake the lead 26-21 with 2:57 left in the game. Zy McDonald completed 19 out of 30 passes for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Ronnie West caught 7 passes for 60 yards and 1 touchdown.
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The Wildcats’ strategy of using up as much time as possible left in the game in case they scored, had to convert on 4 and 3. The Wildcats quarterback, Don Hudson Jr, rushed the ball off the right side of the offensive line, but fell short of converting the first down. The officials measured the line of gain to confirm, and the Wildcats turned the ball over to the Panthers with 37 seconds left on the clock securing the win 26-21.