KINGSLAND — For the second year in a row, the Lowndes Vikings’ season came to a stunning end on the road in the playoffs.
The Vikings were eliminated in the second round of the postseason by the Camden County Wildcats, 10-7, on Friday night at Chris Gilman Stadium.
Just like Grayson last year, Camden used an epic fourth quarter drive to seal the game. The Wildcats took over the ball with 9:11 left in the fourth quarter up by three and were able run the clock all the way to zero without giving the ball back to the Vikings.
Camden converted three fourth downs on the drive, which ended at the Vikings at the 1-yard line when time ran out.
The Vikings appeared to force a stop early in the drive, but a Viking player was called for encroachment on fourth-and-two with Camden in punt formation inside its own territory. The penalty gave Camden a first down and was a major blow to the Vikings’ defense which had done its job.
”They have a great team,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. “We had them stopped, then jumped offsides. We made too many mistakes to win the game.”
The encroachment was one of several mistakes by the Vikings. The Vikings lost two fumbles, the first of which resulted Camden’s go-ahead score.
Late in the first quarter, Lowndes forced Camden to punt, but Khary Franklin muffed the punt and it was recovered by Camden at the Lowndes’ 17-yard line. The Wildcats cashed in on the turnover when running back Ean Days ran up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown five plays later. After the extra point, Camden led 10-7.
Midway through the second quarter, Lowndes was driving inside Camden territory, but Troy Braswell was hit and the ball popped out. Camden’s Glenn Mack caught the fumble and returned it to the Lowndes 22. The Vikings forced a missed field goal, but one of their few scoring opportunities was wasted.
Braswell’s fumble came on his fourth carry, and he never touched the ball again. On his first two carries of the game, he had runs of 44 and 36 yards.
Lowndes’ only score came on its first drive. On the first play, Braswell took the handoff at the 7 yard line and ran into Camden territory. Three plays later, Cole Parker found Braswell in the end zone on a 29-yard touchdown pass.
Lowndes’ touchdown answered the Wildcats, who kicked a field goal on their opening possession.
The two teams came into the game as the highest scoring teams in Class AAAAA, and the game had the makings of a shoot out with a 10-7 score in the first quarter. However, the defenses locked down the rest of the way.
In the second half, Lowndes only had three possessions. One of Lowndes’ possessions came after Camden muffed a punt and Lowndes recovered the ball at the Camden 40-yard line. Geraldo Orta picked up the fumble and ran it into the end zone, but a fumbled punt cannot be advanced.
The Vikings could only move the ball five yards on the ensuing possession and were forced to punt.
The Vikings would only get one more possession. They moved the ball into Camden territory and converted on a fourth down, but Lowndes was called for holding and had to punt.
The Wildcats took over at the Lowndes’ 20 and marched 79 yards on 16 plays and ran the clock out.
“It’s a shocker,” Camden head coach Jeff Herron said. “When you play a team like Lowndes in this kind of atmosphere, you have to play great and play mistake free. I told people during the week for us to have a chance we couldn’t have penalties or turnovers and we did a good job of that tonight.”
The Vikings totaled 261 yards, while the Wildcats gained 235 yards. Robert Anderson carried the ball 14 times for 60 yards to lead the Vikings. Cole Parker was 3-for-9 for 41 yards and a touchdown.
The Vikings finish the season 10-2.
“I told them we played hard,” McPherson said. “We played hard enough to win the game, but we didn’t.”
Camden moves on to face North Gwinnett in the quarterfinals. A coin flip will determine homefield.
