VALDOSTA — Valdosta High ended its 2008 season with a win, defeating Houston County 17-0 Friday night at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
The Wildcats scored 17 points in the second half, and their defense shut down the Bears’ offense Friday. Houston managed just 93 yards, averaged only 2.5 yards per carry, and never reached the red zone.
“I’m happy for our team, especially our seniors,” Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin said. “We didn’t have a great year; we had a tremendous amount of injuries, and that hurt us. But we’re glad to win this one tonight.”
Valdosta ends the season 5-5, and finishes sixth in Region 1-AAAAA.
Jay Rome had the best game of his young Wildcat career. The 6-foot-6 sophomore tight end caught eight passes for 120 yards and a touchdown, including long catches of 51 and 34 yards, and likely cemented his spot on the All-Region team with Friday night’s game.
“Jay had a great game,” Tomberlin said. “Hopefully that’s one of many great games he’ll have for us.”
The Valdosta offense was like a diesel engine Friday: It took time for it to get going, but once it did, it ran strong. The Wildcats were shut out in the first half, but scored on three of their first four possessions of the second half, and were driving towards another score when the game ended.
“Our offense moved the ball pretty well in the second half. That looked like Wildcat football,” Tomberlin said.
After a scoreless first half, Valdosta put points on the board on its first possession of the second half. A 34-yard completion from Kyle Rowe to Rome and a 12-yard run by VaShun Johnson helped move the Wildcats into the red zone. The drive stalled, but John Mark Stephenson kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Valdosta a 3-0 lead.
Late in the third quarter, facing second-and-14 from its own 49, Valdosta decided to go deep. Wildcat quarterback Kyle Rowe put the ball in the air, and Rome hauled it in on the run, nearly five yards behind the last defender. Rome sprinted untouched down the middle of the field into the end zone for the touchdown, giving the Wildcats a 10-0 lead.
That was the final pass of Rowe’s career — and a great way for the senior quarterback to depart.
The Wildcats scored again on their next possession, all but putting the game away with a 12-play, 75-yard drive, with all off the yardage coming on the ground. VaShun Johnson had runs of 12 and 22 yards on back-to-back plays, moving the Wildcats into Bears territory.
Seven plays later, on second-and-goal from the 7, Phillip Moore took the handoff and went right. Moore cut inside the right tackle, got by a defender, then crossed the goal line right before being taken down. Moore’s touchdown gave the Wildcats a 17-0 lead with 5:19 left in the game.
Houston responded with its best drive of the day, moving the ball down to the Valdosta 23. But then Odell James picked off Jeff Thompson’s pass, and helped keep the Wildcats’ shutout intact.
On the ensuing possession, senior Tim Kier broke off runs of 22 and 49 yards, and helped Valdosta moved the ball to the Bear 13. But with the victory already clinched, the Wildcats chose to run out the clock.
In the first half, the teams battled to a scoreless tie. Each team had the ball in opposing territory at some point in the half, but could not put points on the board. Houston drove inside the Valdosta 30 on their first two possessions, but both times, the Wildcat defense drove the Bears back and forced them to punt. Valdosta had the ball inside the Houston 40 on its last two drives of the half, but couldn’t manage any points.
But in the second half, the Wildcats found their offense, and walked away with the victory.
For Valdosta, Rowe completed 12-of-17 passes for 113 yards. Johnson, another senior, rushed for 89 yards on 14 carries, while Kier gained 73 yards on eight carries. The Wildcats rushed for 202 yards in the win, while their defense held Houston to just four yards rushing in the second half.
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Pat Gallagher
-
Pat Gallagher
-
Pat Gallagher
-
Pat Gallagher
-
Pat Gallagher
-
Pat Gallagher
Discussion
’Cats end year with win
Valdosta defeats Houston, 17-0
- Local Sports
-
-
Blazers fall to Molloy in eight innings
With only one out remaining and trailing by three, the Molloy Lions strung together four hits to plate three runs in the seventh followed by another run in the eighth inning to defeat Valdosta State’s softball team 5-4 in the first round of the 2013 Division II Softball National Championship Tournament on Thursday in Salem, Va.
-
Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors
Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.
-
Golfers take course for Wounded Warriors
Local patrons participated in the Wounded Warrior Project Golf Tournament at Stone Creek Golf Club in Valdosta on Thursday.
-
Valwood football hosting 4-man scramble golf tourney
Head coach Ashley Henderson and the Valwood football team will be hosting a 4-man scramble golf tournament at Valdosta Country Club Friday, June 14.
-
VHS football cheerleaders to host Junior Cheer Camp
The Valdosta High School football cheerleaders will be hosting a Junior Cheer Camp June 5 through June 7 at the W.G. Nunn Elementary School gymnasium.
-
Gillespie, McPherson pleased with spring practices
Valdosta’s Rance Gillespie and Lowndes’ Randy McPherson both think their football teams got better during the recent 10 days of spring practice.
Then again, both coaches know their teams have a ways to go before the start of the football season. -
Signing day at VHS
It was signing day galore at Valdosta High School Wednesday.
Six student-athletes signed national letter of intents to compete at the next level, while two VHS athletes both signed academic scholarships to Division I universities. -
Powell signs with Shorter
Robert Powell, a member of the basketball team on South Georgia State College’s Waycross Campus, has signed a letter of intent to continue his basketball career at Shorter University in Rome.
-
Sending the Blazers off
The Valdosta State softball team made the long journey to Salem, Va. Tuesday, leaving Valdosta at 10:30 a.m. with devoted fans cheering them out of the parking lot.
-
All-Region teams announced
Lowndes was one win away from a trip to the Class AAAAAA state semifinals, and the success by the Vikings this season showed when the All-Region 1 baseball teams were announced Monday.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
