VALDOSTA — Valdosta High’s football team will wrap up spring practice with the annual spring game tonight at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
The game will begin at 5 p.m., when the players from J.L. Newbern and Valdosta Middle Schools play the rising VHS freshman team. Valdosta’s varsity will take the field afterwards.
Admission to the game is $5, with all of the proceeds going to the VHS football program.
Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin says it has been a good spring for the Wildcats.
“I feel pretty good,” he said. “We’ve still got light years to go. We’ve had very, very physical practices. We’ve gone live and scrimmaged some every day. We haven’t (had a light practice) one day.”
Tomberlin has split the Wildcats and their coaching staff into two teams for tonight’s game, trying to make the squads as even as possible. Defensive coordinator Jeff Arnette will coach one of the teams, while offensive coordinator Michael Pollock will lead the other squad.
The quarterback competition was one of the biggest question marks for the Wildcats heading into spring. The competition will continue into the fall, with rising junior Dashay March, sophomore Avery Burney, junior Odell James and senior Chad Prain battling to start. The quarterbacks that don’t start could be used at other positions.
March will quarterback the Gold team tonight, while Burney leads the Black team. James is also suiting up for the Gold team, and will likely see time at receiver and defensive back. Prain, who just finished baseball season, will not play, due to injury.
Other players could also see time at multiple positions, and even on both sides of the ball. Dontavius Sapp was a starter at both receiver and safety in 2008. James, Phillip Moore, Dhahrod Hall, Justin Williams, Jarquez Samuel, Yontell Morrison and Malcolm Mitchell are some other players being looked at on both offense and defense.
According to Tomberlin, Valdosta currently has 129 players on its varsity roster, which he says is the most he’s ever had. The Wildcats also have 46 ninth graders.
Injuries were a big problem for Valdosta in 2008, but so far, the spring season has been relatively injury-free.
“Out of 129 kids, we’ve only had a handful of minor injuries,” he said. “We didn’t get anybody hurt, despite going (full contact) every day, and getting after it.”
Local Sports
Wildcats' spring game Friday
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