Fort Valley State to start Eady at quarterback in matchup with Florida Tech

After a four-touchdown performance in Fort Valley State's 35-10 win over Kentucky State last week, junior Malcolm Eady will start at quarterback against Florida Tech (3-3) on Saturday despite the improved health of fellow quarterback Otis Brown.

Brown injured his non-throwing shoulder Sept. 26 in the Wildcats' 33-3 win over Benedict College and has not seen the field since. In Brown's absence, Eady has thrown for 197 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 27-20 loss to Alderson Broaddus before throwing for 147 yards and four touchdowns against the Thorobreds.

"I'm very happy with Malcolm's performance," Fort Valley head coach Donald Pittman said. "His passing accuracy was very good. He threw for four touchdown passes, and he was a great leader out there."

Even though Eady will get the starting nod, Pittman said Brown will rotate in. The Wildcats' offense will attempt to keep up with the Panthers, who rank 34th in NCAA Division II offensively with 450.7 yards and 32.5 points per game.

"Florida Tech has a very, very potent offense," Pittman said. "With those weapons they have, they can hit you anywhere, and they spread the ball around."

Pittman specifically spoke of Panthers quarterback Mark Cato, who has thrown for more than 300 yards in two of the past three games, and running back Trevor Sands, who has run for more than 100 yards in every game he has played except one.

But the Wildcats' defense has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks. After allowing 43 points per game in the first two games, Fort Valley State has held opponents to more than 13 points per game the past four games.

"It's getting better every game," Pittman said. "They're beginning to jell. It's a good unit; they just need to stop the big play and get off the field."

The rushing defense limited Kentucky State to minus-15 yards on the ground, and Pittman said it's the Wildcats' goal every week to grab the early lead and make the opposing offense one-dimensional like they did against the Thorobreds.

And with an explosive offense like the Panthers up next, Pittman said the script must be similar.

"We want to control the tempo of the game, and we also don't want to turn the ball over; we want to get first downs, and we also want to have a good possession time," he said. "That's going to be the key, keeping them off the field."

But it will not be an easy task. Pittman called Florida Tech the second toughest team on the schedule behind season-opening opponent Delta State. But on Oct. 3, the Panthers defeated the Statesmen 41-37, while Delta State beat the Wildcats by 41 points.

"We want to win every game, especially a home game," Pittman said. "Senior day makes it even more important that we win."

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Fort Valley State to start Eady at quarterback in matchup with Florida Tech ."