VALDOSTA — Valdosta High opened the AAAAA state playoffs with a dominant performance.
The Wildcats blew out Bradwell Institute 42-0 Friday night at Cleveland Field at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. The Wildcats dominated from start to finish on their way to earning a second-round berth.
Valdosta (9-2), the No. 10 team in the state, will travel to No. 2 M.L. King (11-0) next week. King dominated Paulding County on Friday, winning 41-0.
Valdosta put the game away with a dominant first half, putting four touchdowns on the scoreboard and racing to a 28-0 halftime lead. Fullback Marcus McNair scored two of those touchdowns.
The scoring began on Valdosta’s second possession. The Wildcats had begun their first possession at the Bradwell 5, after an interception return by Sidney Bivins, but turned the ball over on downs. But Bradwell fumbled on the next play, and Valdosta’s Patrick Moore recovered at the 10. Two plays later, McNair plowed in from four yards out, giving the Wildcats a 6-0 lead.
On their next possession, the Wildcats struck again. A long punt return by Perry King gave Valdosta the ball at the Tigers’ 38. The Wildcats kept the ball on the ground, and on the eighth play of the drive, quarterback Michael Turner rolled left, then tucked the ball in and ran across the goal line for the score. Turner then hit tight end Marcus Ewings for the two-point conversion, making it 14-0 at the end of one quarter.
Valdosta added seven more points on its next possession. This time, the Wildcats mixed in three passes with their rushing attack, and Turner completed all three of them, helping the Wildcats move into the red zone. On second-and-2 from the 7, McNair got the ball on a trap, and carried it across the goal line for his second touchdown. Lawrence Clagett’s extra point made it 21-0.
Late in the half, the Wildcats went 55 yards in two plays for one more score before halftime. First Turner threw a 23-yard pass to McNair. Then on the next play, David Arnold went around left end, turned the corner, and raced 32 yards for the touchdown to make it 28-0.
In the final minute of the third quarter, Valdosta scored two more touchdowns in a span of 29.2 seconds.
With the second team on the field, the Wildcats drove 83 yards in nine plays, all on the ground. Runs of 20 and 24 yards by Vashun Johnson helped the Wildcats move the ball inside the 10. On second-and-goal from the 7, quarterback Kyle Rowe rolled out, then saw an opening and ran the ball in for the touchdown.
On the ensuing kickoff, the ball was kicked short, and when Bradwell was slow trying to field it, Valdosta’s Damian White rushed in and grabbed it at the Tiger 29. Rowe threw a touchdown pass to freshman Jay Rome on the first play, but the play was called back due to a penalty. So on the next play, Rowe tossed a screen pass to White, and the senior fullback followed his blocks, and dashed into the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown catch, making it 42-0.
The clock ran continuously in the fourth quarter, due to the mercy rule. Valdosta used second- and third-teamers the entire final quarter, and drove to the Bradwell 13 on one drive before turning the ball over on downs.
The score was lopsided enough, but Valdosta could have won by even more. Twice the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs inside the Tiger 10. Another time they fumbled a pitch at the Bradwell 22. But in the end, Valdosta was still plenty dominant.
Arnold led the Wildcats with 89 yards rushing on 13 carries, with one touchdown, while McNair, his backfield mate, gained 67 yards on 12 carries, and scored twice. Turner did not start because of disciplinary reasons, but once he got in, he completed 7-of-10 passes for 156 yards, and gained 39 yards on five carries.
Meanwhile Valdosta’s defense held Bradwell’s wing-T running to minus-14 yards. It was the third time this season a team had rushed for negative yards against the Wildcats.
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Tickets for the Valdosta-M.L. King game will go on sale Monday at the Valdosta ticket office, located in the Valdosta City Schools Central Offices, next to the stadium. The ticket office will be open from 1-5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and will be open Friday from 8 a.m. to noon. All tickets are $10, per GHSA regulations.
The Valdosta Touchdown Club will be renting a bus for the trip to the game. Tickets are $40 per person, are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and do not include a ticket to the game. They can also be purchased at the ticket office.
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