VALDOSTA — Intense, physical, hard-nosed football. A down-to-the-wire game. This was the Winnersville Classic as it was meant to be played.

Lowndes won the 2008 Winnersville Classic Friday night, defeating Valdosta 14-7 at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

The Vikings, ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 2 in the nation, won their 21st consecutive game and improved to 7-0, but received their toughest challenge of the season from Valdosta.

“What a ballgame,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. “It was a tough game. That’s how it usually is. I’m just proud of our coaches and players. This was a big win.”

The game, for the most part, was a defensive battle. Lowndes got a long touchdown pass on the second play of the game and took advantage of a pair of Valdosta miscues for their second score. Then the Vikings’ defense made the lead stand up in the second half.

“(Our defense) made plays when they had to,” McPherson said. “Valdosta moved the ball well on us at times, but when it counted, our defense came through. Offensively, they kind of shut us down in the fourth quarter.”

“It was a great game. I thought our effort was outstanding,” Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin said. “Our defense played real well. You’ve got to play good defense in this region.”

It took all of 29 seconds for Lowndes to strike first blood. On the first play from scrimmage, from the Viking 30, quarterback Khary Franklin dumped a quick pass off to Greg Reid. The Vikings’ superstar is one of the most dangerous players in the state when he gets the ball in his hands, and once he caught it, he took off. He raced diagonally across the field, then turned on the afterburners, and raced across the goal line for the touchdown, giving the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

“That was a great play,” McPherson said.

After Valdosta went three-and-out, Lowndes moved the ball all the way to the Valdosta 20. But a penalty drove them back, and on fourth down, Mark Willis missed a 44-yard field goal.

Lowndes nearly struck a huge blow on the Wildcats’ ensuing possession. Valdosta quarterback Kyle Rowe tried to find a receiver, but the pass was deflected. Lowndes’ Telvin Smith picked off the pass and raced 35 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. But the Vikings were called for roughing the passer, wiping out the score and giving the Wildcats a first down.

Valdosta then drove for a touchdown. Two plays after the roughing-the-passer penalty, VaShun Johnson sprinted 41 yards, down to the 22, before Reid hauled him down.

Then on fourth-and-11 from the 23, Valdosta decided to go for it. Rowe lofted a pass towards the end zone. Dontavius Sapp, Valdosta’s 6-foot-4 receiver, leaped over the cornerback, and hauled in the pass for the touchdown. John Mark Stephenson’s extra point tied the score at 7-7.

Early in the second quarter, two Valdosta mistakes led to a Lowndes touchdown. On first down, on an option pitch, the ball went through Johnson’s hands, and Valdosta was pinned back at the 1. Then, facing third-and-long at the 1, Valdosta opted to quick kick. But Rowe shanked the punt, and Lowndes took over at the Valdosta 12.

“We made a ton of mistakes, which is so disappointing,” Tomberlin said. “Those things hurt us.”

For the first time all season, Lowndes went to its Tebow formation, a variation of the single wing. Reid took the direct snap from the shotgun, found a hole and ran it down to the 1-foot line on second down. On the next play, from Lowndes’ standard goal line split-back formation, Gerald Demps dove across the goal line to give the Vikings a 14-7 lead.

Neither team knew it then, but that would be the final score of the game.

Late in the half, Reid raced 40 yards, down to the Valdosta 11. On the play, Valdosta’s Johnathan Mitchell crashed into the wheel base on one of the Georgia Bridgemen’s props along the Lowndes sideline, and was injured. Mitchell was taken away to South Georgia Medical Center in an ambulance as a precaution.

After Mitchell’s injury, Valdosta’s defense drove the Vikings back. On third down, Franklin was hit and fumbled. Lowndes recovered, but Willis missed a 39-yard field goal.

“I thought we should have had some more points in the first half,” McPherson said. “But overall, my hats off to our players and coaches. They did a great job.”

The second half was a defensive stalemate, with neither side getting inside the opposition’s 25.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Valdosta staged a 15-play drive, moving the ball from their own 34 to the Lowndes 26. But on fourth-and-12 from the 28, Rowe’s fade pass fell incomplete with 4:34 left in the game.

Valdosta got the ball back one last time with 3:02 remaining. But on fourth-and-11, Lowndes’ Henry Harden sacked Rowe, killing the Wildcats’ final chance.

Lowndes ran out the clock from there, and walked away with its fifth consecutive Winnersville Classic victory.

Lowndes now stands alone at the top of the Region 1-AAAAA standings at 4-0, after Coffee’s 17-14 loss to Northside.