VALDOSTA —
The Valdosta Wildcats have played each of their first six football games on their home turf this year. Tonight, they go on the road for the first time.
Valdosta will travel north on Interstate 75 to Tifton tonight to face longtime rival Tift County. The teams will kick off at 8 p.m. at Gene Brodie Field.
The Wildcats haven’t had a road trip since their preseason scrimmage in August, when they traveled to Waycross to face Ware County. They will play three of their next four games on the road.
“It will be different,” Valdosta head coach Rance Gillespie admitted. “We love playing at home. We’ve got to go into another team’s territory. That will be different for us. ... Tifton can be a tough place to play.”
Valdosta has a 6-1 record in road games in Gillespie’s three seasons as head coach.
Both teams will be looking for their first Region 1-6A victories. Valdosta (3-3) is 0-2 in region play, with losses to No. 1 Camden County (43-6) and No. 4 Lowndes (17-14). Tift (2-5) is 0-3 in the region, having lost to Coffee (24-7), Colquitt County (49-7) and Camden (47-0).
Tift is in its first season under new head coach John Reid. Reid won two state championships in Tennessee and posted a 60-15 record in six years at East Paulding before going to Tift.
Tift runs a pro style offense. TCHS will primarily line up in the I formation, but will also get in the spread at times.
“They’re not as spread-oriented as they were last year,” Gillespie said. “They’re a pro style offense, and they’ll get into some gun sets. (There is) a spread element. One of the quarterbacks has got a little bit more run-oriented stuff with his package.”
Tift’s best player has been running back Rashad Daniels. Daniels, a senior, has had several big games this season, including a 368-yard, five-touchdown performance against Houston County on Sept. 7.
“The back, Rashad Daniels, is probably the marquee player,” Gillespie said. “He’s had a couple of really big games. (In the) Houston County game, he rushed for (368 yards). He’s had an outstanding year. He’s made a lot of improvement from last year to this year. ... If you don’t stop him, he can hurt you.”
Tift has been rotating two quarterbacks, senior Kris Miller and junior Ryan Wedgeworth.
“They’re playing both quarterbacks, and both of them do some good things,” Gillespie said. “They can both throw the ball, and they have. ... One’s a smaller, shiftier kid and the other one’s a big kid. They’re both athletic; they can both move around, both can throw it around. They don’t look alike, but they share some common qualities.”
On defense, Tift plays a defense that is sometimes a 3-4 and sometimes a 5-2, depending on where the outside linebackers line up.
“They’ve got some guys that have played well for them defensively,” Gillespie said. “They play sound fundamental football.”
Valdosta’s West Coast offense is led by quarterback Shelby Wilkes, who has thrown for 809 yards and five touchdowns, and running backs Nelson Herring (506 yards rushing and four touchdowns) and Malcolm Joseph (482 yards, eight touchdowns). Joseph is also the team’s leading receiver, with 21 catches for 189 yards and one touchdown.
This is one of South Georgia’s oldest high school football rivalries, dating back to 1914. Valdosta leads the series 68-14-2.
What will it take for the Wildcats to win tonight’s game?
“We need to control the football game early,” Gillespie said. “(We have to) make sure we don’t have a hangover from the last game. (We need to) play with high emotion, high intensity. We can’t go up there and make a bunch of mistakes. If you’re playing Tifton, certainly you’ve got to stop that running back. Probably the biggest key is stopping him.”
Tonight, Valdosta defensive line coach Stacy Duckworth will be going back to his hometown. Duckworth played on Tift’s state championship team in 1983 and was an assistant coach at Tift from 1988-2011, before joining Gillespie’s staff this year.
Directions to Gene Brodie Field in Tifton: Take Interstate 75 north to Tifton. Exit at Exit 63B (Eighth Street), and turn right. Go one mile. The stadium is on the right, next to Eighth Street Middle School.
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Shelby Wilkes (4) has thrown for 809 yards and five touchdowns for Valdosta, which travels to Tift County tonight. file photo
Discussion
Wildcats hit the road to face Tift County
- Local Sports
-
-
Prince Automotive donates new baseball equipment
Prince Automotive of Valdosta is supporting the Valdosta community through its partnership with the Valdosta/Lowndes County Recreation Department. The dealership has joined forces with the national Chevrolet Youth Baseball program to provide new equipment, instructional clinics, and a monetary donation.
-
Needmore holds final races before big Memorial Day weekend
Saturday night racing at Needmore Speedway saw some new faces in victory lane.
That wasn’t the case in the Late Model division, as Valdosta's Gene Ross drove to victory once again, but not without some close competition from Steven Roberts who came in second.
In the Limited Late Model class, it was another win for Cole Exum, with Gene Maine finishing second in the NAPA Auto Parts special. -
VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
-
Blazers take 1-0 series lead
Angela O’Connor launched a pinch-hit two-run home run over the left-field fence, tying the game against Alabama-Huntsville in the bottom of the sixth inning, and sparking the Blazers and their fans along the way.
-
Blazer baseball stays alive, beats Stillman
Valdosta State scored five runs in the first inning to defeat Stillman 6-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at UT Baseball Field Friday morning.
-
Lowndes’ Harwell, Wortham sign with Valdosta State
Lowndes’ Ty Harwell and David Wortham won’t have to go far to play college baseball.
-
Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Pop Warner Football coming to Valdosta
Pop Warner Football is coming to Valdosta.
The nationally known organization that puts an emphasis on education and developing American youth has been established in the Valdosta area and will begin playing football this August. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. - More Local Sports Headlines
-
