VALDOSTA — Valdosta football coach Rick Tomberlin has said it several times this season, and he said it again Monday.
“I believe this team is a special team.”
Tomberlin has good reason to believe his team is special right now. The Wildcats are 4-1, and opened their Region 1-AAAAA season last Friday night with a 24-6 victory over Colquitt County.
The Wildcats scored on their first two possessions, ended the first half with a quick two-play, 56-yard drive to set up Lawrence Clagett’s 27-yard field goal, and did not allow a Colquitt point until the outcome was already long decided.
“It was good to win. It was good to beat a Region 1-AAAAA team, and a longtime rival,” Tomberlin said. “Anytime you beat Colquitt County, you have to feel fortunate.”
Michael Turner was very accurate with his passes for the second week in a row, completing 11-of-15 attempts for 164 yards. David Arnold had 160 yards of total offense (88 rushing, 72 receiving). Backfield mate Marcus McNair ran for two more touchdowns, and now leads the team with five. Travis Brooks turned his four carries into 61 rushing yards. On defense, Patrick Moore returned an interception 30 yards to give the Wildcats the ball at the Colquitt 13.
Valdosta was far from perfect, though. They came up empty on two possessions in the red zone and allowed a long pass on a fake punt for the second week in a row. But Tomberlin points out that part of the reason for that was the Packers.
“After the game, I thought we won ugly. But after I looked at the film, I thought we played pretty good,” Tomberlin said. “We had probably 3-5 plays in the first half that I didn’t think we executed well on. Early in the third quarter, there were some things. Other than that, I thought we played well.
“Colquitt County came after us. They weren’t bad. They wanted to win, they studied film, and were ready to play us. I came away with a renewed respect for that Colquitt team. They could surprise some people.”
Taking a commanding lead enabled Valdosta to play its reserves for most of the fourth quarter. Longtime Wildcats coach Wright Bazemore used to believe strongly in giving the back-ups playing time and preparing next year’s team this year. Tomberlin thinks that’s a positive, too.
“Once we got up 24-0, we subbed liberally,” Tomberlin said. “We had our (second- and third-teamers) in there when they scored. I thought our No. 2 and No. 3 offense did a good job moving the ball. The game was decided at that point; there was no reason to try to get any more (with the first team). We figured we’d keep our starters healthy and give our back-ups some playing time, let them play in front of the lights and the big crowd at Cleveland Field. I think everybody wins when you do that.
“That’s valuable experience for those young guys. You’re playing in front of 7,000 or so fans, and playing against varsity players. I think it’s important for them to play.”
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The difficulty of Valdosta’s tough schedule is not lost on Tomberlin. The Wildcats face Tift County and Warner Robins, both of whom were state semifinalists last year, before facing Lowndes on Oct. 19.
“It’s a very tough schedule,” Tomberlin admitted. “We’ve got Tift this Friday, we have to play Warner Robins on a Saturday, then we play Lowndes the next Friday. Meanwhile, Lowndes has Houston this Friday, then an off-week before they play us. But that’s the hand we’ve been dealt.”
Tift is currently No. 8 in AAAAA, while Lowndes is No. 9 after its 42-13 rout of then-No. 2 Coffee last Friday. Jordan is now 6-1 and ranked No. 1 in Utah’s highest classification. Lincoln is 4-1 and ranked No. 3 in Florida’s 4A. Brookwood is 2-2, with the losses coming to defending state co-champion Roswell and current No. 3 North Gwinnett. Collins Hill and Colquitt, on the other hand, are a combined 1-9.
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Valdosta pleased with win
Wildcats opened region with 24-6 victory last week
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