VALDOSTA — A 48-7 victory is a great way to start the season.
Valdosta dominated its season opener with Jenkins Friday night at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, and walked off the field with a 48-7 win.
The Wildcats excelled on offense, picking up 439 yards of total offense. They excelled on defense, holding the Warriors to 30 yards of total offense and not allowing a single drive to cross the 50. There wasn’t much that didn’t go right for Valdosta on this night.
“It was a good start to the season,” Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin said. “I thought our players played hard, and kept their focus. It was good to see us play well on offense, defense and special teams. It was real good to get a win.”
Senior quarterback Kyle Rowe completed 14-of-20 passes for 161 yards and four touchdowns. He completed passes to six different receivers. Vashon Johnson, another senior, rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, all in the first half.
Valdosta took advantage of a Jenkins mistake to score its first touchdown with 55.9 seconds left in the first quarter. As quarterback Malik Humpries was barking out signals, the center snapped the ball prematurely and hit him in the face, and the ball fell to the ground. Valdosta recovered at the Jenkins 32, and that set up the Wildcats’ first touchdown.
Valdosta kept the ball on the ground five straight plays. On the fifth play, on second-and-2 from the 3, Johnson took the handoff and found a hole between left tackle Antonio Foster and tight end Jamie Turner, and ran it in for the touchdown. John Mark Stephenson’s extra point gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.
Midway through the second quarter, Valdosta staged a 10-play, 60-yard drive that doubled its lead. Johnson carried six times on the drive for 41 yards. On third-and-goal from the 5, Kyle Rowe lofted a fade route to the back of the end zone. Jay Rome, the Wildcats’ 6-foot-6 tight end, leaped and pulled down the pass for the touchdown, making it 14-0.
Then Jenkins shanked a punt from its own end zone, and that seven-yard punt gave the Wildcats the ball at the Warriors’ 10. On the next play, Rowe threw a screen pass to Travoris Belcher, and the senior receiver raced into the end zone untouched for another touchdown, increasing the Valdosta lead to 21-0 with 1:07 left in the half.
The rout had begun. And it continued in the second half.
On Valdosta’s first possession of the third quarter, it took only three plays to score again. After a 26-yard pass to Rome and a three-yard completion to Dontavius Sapp, Valdosta decided to go deep. Rowe chucked it down the field, and found Belcher wide open inside the 10. Belcher trotted into the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown, increasing Valdosta’s lead to 28-0.
The Wildcats’ next possession ended in another touchdown. This time, they marched 52 yards in nine plays. On fourth-and-15 from the Jenkins 21, Rowe fired a strike to Odell James, who caught the ball at the 5 and ran it in for his first varsity touchdown, making it 35-0.
Jenkins finally had something go its way after that touchdown. Kareem Blue took the kickoff at the 8, found a hole and returned it for a touchdown. That made it 35-7 with 2:23 left in the third quarter. But that was the only highlight of the Warriors’ night.
With a big lead, Valdosta began putting in its reserves. But the points kept coming. Chad Prain entered the game at quarterback on the next series, and led the Wildcats on an eight-play, 76-yard scoring drive. Tim Kier had four carries for 57 yards on the drive, while fullback Desmond Smith rushed four times for 29 yards. On the eighth play of the drive, Smith took the handoff on a trap, and went five yards for the score, making it 42-7.
“We played a lot of guys,” Tomberlin said. “Our No. 2 offensive line looked good. They got in there, and really got after it.”
Smith’s touchdown gave Valdosta a 35-point lead, and automatically put the running clock into effect.
Valdosta closed out its scoring with a five-play, 37-yard drive, all running plays. With 4:16 left in the game. James took the snap from the shotgun, then raced 11 yards on a quarterback draw for the score.
Valdosta hosts another Region 3-AAAAA opponent, Windsor Forest, next week.
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Discussion
Wildcats hammer Jenkins in season opener
Valdosta piles up 439 yards in a 48-7 victory
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