VALDOSTA —
The Valwood Valiants opened their regular season, and head coach Ashley Henderson earned his first win, with a dominating win over the Windsor Academy Knights, 49-0.
The GISA powerhouse scored touchdowns on each of its first six possessions, including an 11-yard strike from quarterback Jake Lastinger on the third play of the game.
“We played hard, I thought we flew around good. We made plays,” Henderson said. “We knew we could come out, spread the ball around and make some plays. We wanted a fast start, and we got one.”
The Valiants racked up 169 yards of total offense, including 99 yards on the ground, in the first half as they took advantage of short fields, set-up by early turnovers by Windsor Academy.
Valwood forced six turnovers — five fumbles and an interception, which was returned for a touchdown — as the defense stifled the Knight’s offense all night.
Lastinger tossed three touchdowns, two to standout receiver Rashad Mathis. On one play, Mathis broke three tackles and took a screen pass 16 yards to the end zone. Lastinger finished 5 for 6 for 69 yards with his three scores.
Valwood’s starters were pulled with around ten minutes remaining in the second quarter.
“Anytime you get everyone in, that’s a happy day,” Henderson said. “There are a lot of kids out here working.”
The passing game propelled Valwood with three quick touchdowns in just five plays, at one point. The Valiants had a pair of one-play touchdowns, which were the result of great plays by Lastinger and his receiving corps.
The running game continued to power the offensive juggernaut, highlighted by a 45-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Marik Merine.
In the second half, the Valiants managed just nine total yards, as Windsor managed to sustain some drives on Valwood’s second team defense.
Despite the complete win Henderson is not getting complacent.
“You can always improve; we are always going to strive to be perfect,” Henderson said. “We’ll use this film to correct some mistakes and just grow. We have to grow as a unit and keep working, keep expanding the playbook, more and more. We made less mistakes this week than last week, so we’re getting better and better.”
One area the Valiants’ coaching staff was eager to take a look at was the special teams unit. GISA rules prohibit special teams play during scrimmages.
“I thought we were solid,” Henderson said. “We covered. Looking back at the film, we didn’t cover very well last year. We had plenty of opportunities on kickoff to cover and we really did. We were violent when we got there and we refused to be blocked. It looked really good, I thought.”
Valwood will face a slightly tougher test next week when they go on the road to take on undefeated Edmund Burke Academy.
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Valwood’s Zane Edmundson runs the ball on Friday night against the Windsor Academy Knights. Edmundson finished the night with two touchdowns. Paul Leavy | Special to the Times
-
A Valwood ball carrier breaks away from a Windsor Academy tackler during Friday’s game at Goddard Field. Paul Leavy | Special to the Times
Discussion
Valiants blast Knights, 49-0
- 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
-
