VALDOSTA —
The Lowndes County School System officially confirmed that the Nov. 2 football game between the fourth-ranked Lowndes Vikings and the top-ranked Camden County Wildcats at Martin Stadium will be televised in front of a national audience.
The game, set for an 8 p.m. kickoff, will be carried live on ESPNU.
The announcement by the school system came nearly two months after Camden County players made the announcement on the social media website Twitter. Lowndes denied all reports of the game being televised until Monday morning.
As for this week, the Vikings are preparing for their game against the Tift County Blue Devils, who are just 2-6 this season and are coming off a 42-7 loss to Valdosta.
Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said he isn’t worried about his team overlooking the Blue Devils and looking ahead to the top-ranked Wildcats, who are also ranked inside the top 10 of nearly every national high school football poll.
“I think we have a group of kids that want to get better,” McPherson said. “Obviously, there is room for improvement. So we are going to go out there (Monday) to work and try to improve. The region championship is still on the line Friday night; not a whole lot has changed.
“I’m sure Tift County is going to be ready, but we have to worry about ourselves. We have to get better, and we have to do the best we can.”
Lowndes is 8-0 this season following a 31-29 win over Coffee last Friday night. In the win, Lowndes blew a 31-7 fourth quarter lead and narrowly escaped with the two-point win. When asked about the near fourth quarter collapse on Monday, McPherson said he felt the Vikings made three mistakes in the quarter that allowed the Trojans to crawl back into the football game.
“We gave up that reverse pass, and that kind of got things going,” McPherson said. “That kind of set everything into motion. I thought we played good, all except for three plays.”
The Vikings entered the game allowing just 8.4 points and 153 yards per game. Friday night, the Viking defense allowed 22 points (Coffee also scored a touchdown on an interception return) and gave up a season-high 307 yards.
“I don’t want to take anything from Coffee. They made the plays,” McPherson said. “They did a good job.”
The Vikings returned to the practice field Monday afternoon motivated to get better and fix the mistakes from Friday’s win, which left sort of a bitter taste in their mouths.
“I think our team wants to get better,” McPherson said. “We gave up some big plays the other night, and they don’t want to do that. So I look for this team to get better. I don’t think we are there yet. We have to improve each week. They want to win, I promise you that.”
With just two regular season games remaining for the Vikings, followed by a bye week prior to the start of the postseason, McPherson said he thought the season was moving along faster than previous seasons.
“This season has gone really fast,” he said. “Eight games done, there are only two left. It seems like yesterday we were in summer workouts.”
The Lowndes High Randy McPherson Coach’s Show airs Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. on 99.5 FM. It broadcasts live from the Holiday Inn and Conference Center on West Hill Avenue.
Local News
Related Photos
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Lowndes defensive back Brandon Roberts (31) and linebacker Luther Washington (8) stop Coffee’s Lacarvius Sears.
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Lowndes High's Tevin Brown (37) carries the ball against the Luella Lions ealier this season at Martin Stadium. File Photo
Discussion
Lowndes, Camden Co. game to air nationally on ESPNU
Vikings looking to improve on mistakes
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