VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Wildcats played dominant football on Friday night, and routed the Crisp County Cougars 45-0 at Cleveland Field at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

The Wildcats excelled in nearly every area Friday. They moved the ball on the ground. They moved the ball through the air. They kept Crisp from scoring any points. They did not make any costly mistakes.

They played the kind of football that made their coach quite pleased.

“I’m proud of the way our kids responded (after last week’s loss to Brooks County), starting with Monday afternoon practice,” Valdosta head coach Rance Gillespie said. “Our kids went to work. I felt like we had a good week of preparation. Other than the penalties, I thought we played really well tonight.”

Valdosta’s running backs had a big night, combining for 338 rushing yards. Nelson Herring rushed for 163 yards on 11 carries, and scored three touchdowns. Malcolm Joseph gained 86 yards on 11 carries and scored a touchdown. Joseph also caught two passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. Tim McClain entered the game in the fourth quarter and ran for 89 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

“I think we can run the football,” Gillespie said. “I think we have a really good line of scrimmage. Mark (Loudermilk, Valdosta’s offensive line coach) does a great job in developing those kids. ... We’ve got two really good backs (Herring and Joseph), and Tim had a great drive on the last drive. I think we’ve got a real solid run game.”

After Valdosta’s defense forced Crisp to go three-and-out on the first possession of the game, Valdosta got the ball at the Crisp 35. It took just two plays for the Wildcats to put the ball in the end zone. On the first play, Joseph gained 14 yards. On the second play, the right side of the line opened up a big hole and Herring shot through it and sprinted 23 yards untouched into the end zone to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.

Valdosta got the ball back after a punt, and drove into the red zone. Brennan Goodson kicked a 35-yard field goal with 40.6 seconds left in the first quarter to make the score 10-0.

Midway through the second quarter, Valdosta’s Yardley Payne returned a punt to the Crisp 26, giving the Wildcats excellent field position. Two penalties moved the ’Cats back to the 48, and left them facing third-and-32. That’s when Gillespie called for a screen pass. Joseph caught the pass, and the offensive line got in front of him and cleared out a lane to run. Joseph followed the blocks and raced 48 yards into the end zone for the touchdown, giving Valdosta a 17-0 halftime lead.

Gillespie knew his running backs were running the ball well, so he decided to rely heavily on the ground game in the second half. The Wildcats only threw one pass after halftime.

Valdosta got the ball to start the second half, and drove 65 yards in seven plays — all runs — for their third touchdown. Joseph had runs of 14 and 11 yards to move the ball into Cougar territory. Then Herring dashed 29 yards, down to the 1. On the next play, Joseph ran the ball in to give the Wildcats a 24-0 lead.

On the first play of Valdosta’s next possession, Herring got the ball going left. His blockers cleared out a hole, and after picking up some yardage, he cut across the field diagonally and raced down the field and into the end zone untouched. Herring’s 61-yard touchdown run gave Valdosta a 31-0 lead.

Then Valdosta linebacker Anthony Smith picked off a deflected pass and returned it to the Crisp 18. Three plays later, on first-and-goal from the 4, Herring went around left end, and ran over a defender at the goal line for his third touchdown of the night, making it 38-0 with 2:39 left in the third quarter.

Because the Wildcats were leading by 38 points, the fourth quarter was played with a running clock.

On Valdosta’s final drive, the Wildcats turned to McClain to carry them down the field. The sophomore back carried the ball on seven straight plays, and moved the Wildcats from their own 18 to the Crisp 9. Then McClain took the handoff for the eighth consecutive play, and ran into the end zone for his first varsity touchdown, making the score 45-0 with 1:54 left in the game.

Wilkes completed 7 of 15 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown, despite having five of his passes dropped by receivers.

Jamie White led Crisp with 57 yards rushing on 15 carries. Quarterback Witt Campbell passed for 66 yards, with one interception.