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Valwood, Terrell meet in big 3-AAA football game

Becky Taylor, The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
·4 min read

Oct. 13—VALDOSTA — It's beginning to be a lot like football weather. South Georgia has cooled in recent days and tonight's mid-60s temperatures begin the dip into more comfortable nights under the lights. Three local high schools will get to benefit from these conditions, though two will be on the road for them.

The Valdosta Wildcats head for Richmond Hill, the first of two all-Wildcats matchups in Region 1-7A. Valwood plays at Terrell Academy in a contest that might decide the GIAA Region 3-AAA title. Lowndes will be at home in a non-region matchup against Dunbar of Fort Myers, Fla.

Winners of Winnersville, the 5-2 'Cats have the opportunity to better their chances for a home game in the upcoming Class 7A state tournament against Richmond Hill (4-3). This will be their second trip up the coast to Wildcat Stadium; VHS lost a 2019 playoff game there. Overall, Valdosta is 1-1 in the series.

Richmond Hill began the year 4-1, but have run into trouble since. Running is something the coastal 'Cats do plenty and Valdostans should be prepared to hear Nick Bliss' name all night. Bliss has 11 rushing touchdowns on the year and has caught 24 of quarterback Kirk Scott's 39 completions for 352 yards. Bliss is the top points man in 1-7A at 102, 30 more than Colquitt County's Ny Carr.

The big yardage rusher, however, is Joshua Ulrich-Troupe. He is second in the region in yardage at 564. Scott runs, too. All three are in the region's top 12 ground-gainers.

Valdosta outscored Lowndes 23-8 in the second half last week to pull out the 37-27 victory. Todd Robinson put on a show with 173 rushing yards and two touchdowns, with freshman sensation Deron Foster right behind him at 142 rushing and a score. Prince Jean and Robinson both threw for touchdowns.

Eric Brantley continued to be a one-man wrecking crew with three sack, three tackles for losses and four hurries. Plus, a receiving touchdown.

Region 3-AAA in the GIAA heats up with Valwood going to undefeated Terrell Academy. The Eagles have not been defeated, but outside of Deerfield-Windsor — a 35-27 finish — have not had too many challenges.

Valwood leads the all-time series, 10-6, and has won the last six. Last year saw them square off twice, both classics, 19-14 in the regular season and 15-8 in the state quarterfinals.

The Valiants take speed, speed, speed to Dawson. De'Mar Riley scored twice in their 41-0 blowout of Tiftarea Academy, as did Marquis Fennell. Triston White added another. Scoring has not been a problem for Valwood this year. They've had 21 points in every game and have topped 50 points in three of their five games.

Terrell is more of a passing team, led by signal-caller William Massey, who has 17 touchdowns to a single interception. The Eagles aren't slouches running, with Ty Thomas averaging more than 7.5 yards per carry.

Lowndes saw its record evened a week ago at 3-3 in the loss to Valdosta. The Vikings won't immediately have a chance to redeem themselves in 1-7A tonight, but do have a marquee matchup against another Florida opponent, Dunbar. The Tigers enter at 5-1.

Dunbar averages 33 points per game, a stiff challenge for a Lowndes defense that has allowed 42, 40 and 37 since their 3-0 start.

Tigers' QB Austin Price has completed 62% of his passes for 1,150 yards, according to MaxPreps stats. Main target is Eric Fletcher, who has nearly 500 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. They run more than they pass, but not by much.

Lowndes continues to be scariest on the ground. Jacarre' Fleming turning in yet another 100+-yard game last week. His seven touchdowns are tied for second among all region rushers and the 540 yards rank third. While Marvis Parrish's passing numbers are not flashy, he is hitting a variety of targets. Aidan Sefa and Jaylin Carter each scored touchdowns on receptions,

The Vikings blasted Dunbar last year in their first and only meeting. Lowndes will be back to 1-7A battles next week with a home game against Colquitt.

Georgia Christian is off this week. The Generals go to Florida's Rocky Bayou Christian next Friday.

Arguably the biggest game this week in 1-7A is Camden County hosting Colquitt County, with the teams combining for a 12-1 record this season. Only Colquitt is ranked, being No. 4 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll.

In GIAA 3-AAA, Tiftarea goes to Deerfield-Windsor and Southland Academy meets Brookwood a week after Warrior Rodge Waldrop threw for a state record 698 yards against Deerfield.

Elsewhere in the area, Cook travels to Berrien for the annual Border War rivalry. Clinch County has Turner County in Homerville, with Brooks County at home against Early County.