Porter, Wildcats ready for season opener

Kevin Porter knows what he wants his program at Fort Valley State to be as he goes through the building process with the Wildcats.

He will get a good look at that across the field in Sunday’s season opener against Miles.

The Golden Bears won the SIAC championship last season, and the two teams will face off Sunday at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama.

“Miles is a great program, one of the best programs in the nation,” Porter said. “In Division II, that’s the kind of program everyone wants to have. They do it the right way. That’s certainly the kind of program we want to be.”

Porter took over the Wildcats’ program in June, replacing Donald Pittman, who was let go after a 5-4 season in 2015. Sunday’s game will mark Porter’s first game as a college head coach.

The Wildcats finished second in the conference in scoring last year, and their attack will be led by quarterback Otis Brown, who split time last year between quarterback and wide receiver. He passed for 770 yards and three touchdowns in 2015 and rushed for 190 yards and four more scores.

“We’re really excited to get the season going and seeing what kind of team we can be,” Porter said. “We’re looking forward to this season.”

Fort Valley State and Miles haven’t played since 2010, when the Wildcats opened the season with a 24-3 win, also in Birmingham. That was Miles’ last losing season when it finished 3-8.

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Porter, Wildcats ready for season opener."