WAYCROSS, Ga. — The Valdosta State football team kept talking about how close an offensive breakthrough was.

And the Blazers’ offense kept on stalling and suffering through hits and misses, starts and stops.

On Saturday, though, in the inaugural Okefenokee Classic at Waycross’ Memorial Stadium, VSU finally started to click, setting a new school record for passing yards in a game as the aerial assault led to a 48-10 rout of Kentucky State.

“We’re getting better and I’ve been seeing it in practice, and I’ve seen it on film,” VSU coach Kerwin Bell said. “I’ve told these guys I see a little, little by little.

“But we’re nowhere near where I think we can be. There’s a lot more.”

The assault on the VSU record book began early as the Blazers (3-1) kept on firing with sophomore Adam Robles making his first start at quarterback and making the most of it. Robles completed 31 of 48 passes for 401 of the Blazers’ record-setting 575 yards through the air. The old mark of 508 yards was set Oct. 14, 1995, against St. Ambrose.

“Anytime I get a chance to come out here and lead my guys, I get excited,” Robles said as the Blazers attempted the third-most passes in school history with the 42 completions tied for fifth. VSU’s 640 yards of total offense was also the fifth-highest in program history. “I was just excited to lead these guys out here today.

VSU’s Moore gets his first interception against Thorobreds

“It was a lot of fun out there today.”

Robles threw 39 times for 351 yards and three scores in the first half as VSU raced out to a 24-3 lead. Roland Rivers III, who started VSU’s first three games, relieved Robles in the second half and completed 11 of his 19 passes for 174 yards and three more touchdowns. The six passing scores was one off the school mark.

“When we start hitting big time, you won’t believe what we’ll do,” Bell said. “I know where we can be, that’s the frustrating part. But I also know how far we’ve come and that’s exciting as a coach. 

“I’m excited for our players because they continue to work.”

Despite the gaudy numbers, VSU managed just one score in the first quarter as two drives stalled in Kentucky State territory, ending on downs, continuing a trend of struggling to finish off drives. But the Blazers, with Robles at the helm, scored on three of their four second-quarter possessions with the other the final drive of the half when Andrew Gray missed just his second field goal try of the year.

Before that, Robles hit Xay Howard from 13 yards out midway through the first to put VSU on top for good. After the 1-4 Thorobreds got a 25-yard field goal early in the second, the Blazers answered with a 24-yard pass from Robles to Donovan Bolden. Gray added a 43-yard field goal before Robles found Damien Strange from 7 yards out to put the Blazers ahead 24-3. That final score of the first half, which came just two minutes after Gray’s field goal, was set up by a Kenny Moore interception and return.

A turnover — Robles was picked off deep in VSU territory — helped the Thorobreds open the second-half scoring as Jules St. Ge found Jake Ramsey from 7 yards out to make it 24-10. Gray, though, added a 22-yard field goal in the third and then Rivers directed VSU to three fourth-quarter scoring drives.

The sophomore first hit Strange from 10 yards out before finding Joe Fortson from 34 yards out on a fourth-and-10 play where the junior receiver made a leaping grab, and Johnny Williams from the 10.

“He’s growing and he came in there and looked really good,” Bell said of Rivers. “Adam looked good too and we’ll go from there.”

Added Howard, who had a game-high 10 catches for 153 yards: “It’s definitely been building that chemistry, and practice. Practice is the biggest thing and we’ve been trying to do a lot more and trying to be a lot more physical.”

While the Blazer offense was finding its rhythm, VSU’s “Black Swarm” defense kept the Thorobreds in check as Kentucky State managed just 154 yards of offense, 66 rushing on 42 carries. KSU gained 72 of that on its first scoring drive.

“I thought we got a little bit sluggish on that one drive and played to their tempo,” Bell added. “We got back and said, ‘Let’s see how fast we can play. To get better, we’ve got to play at a much-faster tempo and pull the trigger faster.’

“I thought we got back to that.”

Jamie Wachter is the sports editor of the Valdosta Daily Times and can be followed on Twitter @jlwachter.