VALDOSTA — Tiquan Lang says he just wants to help his team win football games.

Lowndes’ All-State safety did more than enough to help the Vikings withstand a commanding fourth quarter comeback from the Coffee Trojans and secure a 31-29 win Friday night at Martin Stadium.

Lang scored three rushing touchdowns and added a 90-yard kickoff return to give the Vikings a comfortable 24-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

Then, the Trojans mounted their comeback by scoring 22 fourth quarter points to close within two with less than a minute to play.  

The touchdown came when Coffee quarterback Keegan McGovern connected with Orlando Ingram on a 15-yard pass. After a two-point conversion brought the Vikings’ lead to 31-29, the Vikings recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock.

“A win is a win,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. “You can’t take anything away from Coffee High. They came in here, they know what they were going to do, they are very well coached and they made a bunch of plays. I knew they could. They have a good football team.”

With the win, Lowndes improved to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in Region 1-6A with two games remaining in the regular season.

“They know we can’t give up those kind of plays to do what we want to do,” McPherson said. “So we are going to go to work on Monday and we are going to treat it like a win, but we also know we have some work to do.”

After Lang closed out the third quarter with a two-yard touchdown run, his third rushing touchdown of the night, which gave the Vikings a 31-7 lead, the Trojans started their comeback bid.

McGovern scored on 1-yard QB keeper to finish off a 10-play drive by the Trojans, which made the score 31-14. Then, Coffee’s Dikembe Deberry intercepted an ill-advised pass from Alex Stephenson and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown. The score put the Trojans within 10 points with 4:52 remaining.

Lowndes recovered the ensuing onside kick, but went three-and-out and was forced to punt the ball back to the Trojans with 3:12 remaining.

Coffee then drove the length of the field behind several big passing plays, including an 18-yard pass from McGovern to wide receiver Brandon Roe on fourth down and 13, setting up the touchdown connection with 41 seconds remaining.

“When they scored on defense, that turned the whole thing,” McPherson said. “It was 31-14 and they score on defense and we gave up some plays. I mean, they converted on what a fourth down and (13)? They did a good job. You can’t take anything away from them.”

After a scoreless first quarter that featured four combined punts between the two teams, Lang broke the scoreless tie when he took a handoff from Stephenson and sprinted down the right side. Lang broke through the hole and ran by some Trojan defenders for the 17-yard touchdown, giving the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

After Coffee immediately responded with a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Keegan McGovern, which capped off a commanding 10-play, 70-yard drive that evened the score at 7-7, Lang broke loose for a 90-yard kickoff return to give Lowndes a 13-7 lead. 

On the return, Lang caught the ball at the 10 and broke loose down the visitors’ sideline and sprinted past all the Trojan defenders for the score. The Vikings missed the attempted two-point conversion when running back Nick Burgman was tackled on a run to the left side.

“At the beginning, I had to come out and play for my team,” Lang said. “I had to show up for my dad. He couldn’t make it tonight. So I had to show up for him.”

After a Coffee three-and-out, Lowndes took over possession at its own 37. Again it was Lang that made the necessary play to get the Vikings into the end zone and onto the scoreboard. Lang turned the corner, leaped two defenders and scored on an 18-yard run. Sophomore Ahman Brown ran in the two-point conversion to put the Vikings ahead 21-7.

“(Lang) is a player,” McPherson said. “He loves the game. He loves coming out here on Friday nights and making plays.”

Lowndes added a 23-yard Gustavo Gonzales field goal at the end of the first half to go ahead 24-7. The field goal was set up by a fumble recovery by junior linebacker Tre’ Jackson at the Coffee 35.

With just 9 seconds remaining in the half, Stephenson connected with Burgman on a 29-yard pass that moved the Vikings to the Coffee 6. After a time out, Gonzales split the uprights to extend Lowndes’ lead.Lang scored Lowndes’ only second half touchdown at the end of the third quarter when he slashed into the end zone from two yards out. The score capped off an 8-play drive for the Vikings that was aided by 25 yards in penalties by the Trojans, including an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that resulted in an ejection for a Coffee player.

Lang’s dominating performance Friday night, which also included four tackles, continued what has been an impressive few weeks for the senior.  Two weeks ago in a win over Brunswick, Lang secured three interceptions; he added a fourth interception last week’s win over rival Valdosta. On Friday, Lang just did what he does best. He finished with 61 yards rushing, three rushing touchdowns and his four tackles.

“It is the time to step it up,” Lang said. “It is getting harder and harder to win in the region.”

On the night, Lowndes was outgained By Coffee 307 yards to 278. Of Lowndes’ 278 yards of offense, 208 came on the ground. Burgman finished with a team-high 83 yards on 12 carries.

The Vikings visit the Tift County Blue Devils next Friday night at Brodie Field in Tifton.