MOULTRIE — The Lowndes Vikings marched back into the Class AAAAA football playoffs, using Colquitt County as its pathway.
Lowndes handily defeated Colquitt 36-7 at Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium Friday, clinching a playoff berth and putting itself one win away from a region title.
“Our goal is to win the region,” Lowndes coach Randy McPherson said. “We’ve got to win next week.”
Before the Vikings (8-1, 5-0 Region 1-AAAAA) line up against Tift County, they took care of business against the Packers (2-7, 1-4).
Other than a first quarter 55-yard touchdown run by Colquitt County’s Quin Roberson, the Vikings dominated the whole game.
On offense, Lowndes allowed just 104 total yards and four first downs on defense, and gained 346 yards on offense.
Lowndes rolled early, as Adrian Hargett and Greg Reid combined for 80 yards to lead the Vikings into the end zone on the first drive of the game.
Hargett took the first play from scrimmage, running 42 yards up the middle. Hargett again ran the ball up the gut, this time for six yards, before Reid took over. The junior wingback ran for plays of 14, 13 and three yards, giving Lowndes second-and-goal from the one. On the next play, taking the direct snap, Reid rumbled in from one yard out, putting Lowndes up 6-0.
While Lowndes methodically marched up the field for its first score, Colquitt in essence used just one play. After the Packers gained just 10 yards on five plays, Roberson took a pitch down the right sideline for 55 yards. The Packers took the lead, 7-6, after Beau Holden kicked the extra point.
Just 37 seconds into the second quarter, Lowndes took the lead for good. The Vikings scored on a 28-yard pass, when Khary Franklin rolled out and found Reid for the touchdown pass. Perry converted on the two-point play, putting the Vikings ahead 14-7.
Then Lowndes would take it to the air, leading to a score again. Reid’s 12-yard pass to Jerry Postell out of the Vikings’ Tebow formation moved the ball inside the 10. Taking the snap again on first-and-goal from the eight, Reid sprinted into the end zone for the touchdown run.
Lowndes used the first-year formation, a variation of the single-wing offense, on two drives. The Vikings also were successful on several option plays, involving Franklin and Reid or Perry.
With all of Lowndes’ weapons working, Reid compiled 64 yards on seven carries, Perry 45 on 11, Hargett 29 on 9, Tavaris Williams 48 on 8 and Franklin completed two passes for 56 yards.
“Our offense played well, and our defense played well,” McPherson said. “They played hard all night. I’m proud of our kids.”
Neither team scored in the third quarter, with much of it being used on a Lowndes drive that would come to fruition a little under two minutes into the fourth.
The Vikings scored with 10:09 left in the third quarter on a 1-yard rumble by Perry, capping off an 86-yard, 12-play drive.
With the score 29-7, and the Packers desperately trying to make a game out of it, Colquitt went for the conversion on fourth-and-two from its own 28-yard line. The conversion was successful on a 5-yard pass from John Harrison to Darryl Thomas. After the conversion, Lowndes battened down the hatches, getting three straight quarterback sacks for minus-17 yards, forcing Colquitt to punt on the Packers’ 17-yard line.
Reid than took the punt more than 30 yards to Colquitt’s 7-yard line. Lowndes needed just one play to get the seven yards, as Postell dashed into the end zone.
The Vikings would later try put a statement on a game with a 39-yard field goal attempt by Mark Willis that fell short.
With Lowndes undefeated in its region games, with two more games remaining, and having the tiebreaker over current second-place team Valdosta and third-place Coffee, a win Friday against Tift County, or against Warner Robins the following week, would seal a No. 1 seed in the playoffs for the Vikings.
“We’re going to enjoy this one, and get to work Monday,” McPherson said.
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