COLUMBIA, S.C. – One of the best games of the year in the entire Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule in 2017 was the Benedict College Tigers at Fort Valley State Wildcats. Benedict rallied from a 21-0 halftime deficit to tie the game. The contest extended into double overtime, with the Wildcats winning after Benedict fumbled in the second overtime. Benedict and Fort Valley finished the season tied for first place in the SIAC East Division, with the Wildcats earning the right to advance to the conference championship game by virtue of that win over the Tigers.

Fast forward one year later, and the Tigers and Wildcats are ready to meet up once again on a big stage, with the game taking place on a rare Sunday afternoon as part of the Palmetto Capital City Classic. Kickoff is 4:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed as part of the SIAC's Flosports streaming package ($19.99 per month subscription to flofootball.com). Watch live here. Free live stats available here.

"I just remember talking to the guys at halftime that we were down 21-0 and I believed they would come back," said Benedict head coach Mike White about last year's game. "The way they did it, they kind of believed in themselves and they got it done and forced the game to overtime. I think our team grew up a lot that day. Even though we came up on the short end, it showed a lot about who we were and what kind of team we could be."

The Tigers return to action after a week break. Last week's game at Fayetteville State was cancelled due to Hurricane Florence. Unlike a normal bye week, where the team continues to practice, the Tigers actually had seven days with no team activities due to the college shutting down operations for four days. The Tigers returned to practice this Tuesday and White said the break didn't seem to slow the team down.

"Practice has been pretty good. It's picked up more each day," White said. "It is a conference game and the atmosphere is a little higher than it normally is, which is good. You're just trying to get your guys to focus because it is going to be a long, hot, tough football game."

While the team may not have been working on the field, White said he hopes the players used the time off to their advantage to catch up on any schoolwork and recover from any minor injuries.

"That's probably the best you can do right now. We healed up a little bit and are ready to go," White said.

The Tigers are coming off what White describes as the most complete game, offensively and defensively, in his four seasons at Benedict in the 42-14 victory over Johnson C. Smith on Sept. 15. The Tigers set records for most points (42) and most total offensive yards (480) in White's four seasons. Benedict also held the Golden Bulls to 138 total offensive yards and negative nine yards rushing.

"That was our best game in my four years, no question about it," White said. "To put points up that fast, to see the offense strike was really great to see. I'm glad we got some momentum with the offense and I hope we keep the momentum going."

Fort Valley State comes in with a 1-2 record, but that record is deceiving. The Wildcats opened the season against Division I Florida A&M and lost 41-7. They followed that with a road game against Division II power and 17^th-ranked Valdosta State and lost 55-6. Fort Valley State rallied with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to earn a 21-19 win over SIAC rival Miles College last week.

FVSU quarterback Slade Jarman, who threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns in last year's meeting with Benedict, is back to lead the Wildcats. Fort Valley State rushed for 146 yards in last week's win over Miles and held the Golden Bears to just 18 yards rushing.

"They are the same explosive team," White said. "They've got a good quarterback and really good running backs. They're just another team that can strike at any time. And they play good defense. To me, it's going to be a similar contest (as last year). We know this is a good football team and we remember what happened last year when we didn't execute properly. Let's hope we learned from the past and we'll play better in the fourth quarter and come out with a win."