VALDOSTA — Camden County has the No. 9 high school football team in the nation. And the Wildcats played like it Friday night.

Camden dominated its first-ever Region 1-6A game on Friday, routing Valdosta 43-6 at Cleveland Field at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

Friday’s performance was classic Camden County football. Camden’s wing-T offense rolled up 278 yards on the ground. Brice Ramsey, a future Georgia Bulldog, threw two touchdown passes and kicked a 35-yard field goal. And the Camden defense held Valdosta’s offense (which was averaging 32 points a game) to just six points.

“We knew that they were really talented, with a ton of speed,” Valdosta head coach Rance Gillespie said. “It’s tough to match their perimeter speed. It really is. And then when you try to, and you thin yourself out inside, then they’re good enough at the line of scrimmage to move you around enough to run the ball inside. They’re really tough to defend, with some of the players that they’ve got.

“They’ve really got some big-time weapons.”

Camden took the lead on the first play of the game, and never looked back. Camden’s J.J. Green (another future Georgia Bulldog) caught the opening kickoff at his own 5-yard line, then took off running. His teammates made the blocks in front of him, and Green sprinted past Valdosta's kick coverage team and into the open. He raced 95 yards down the field and into the end zone for a touchdown, and 13 seconds into the game, Camden led 6-0.

Later in the first quarter, Camden drove the ball into the red zone, and Ramsey kicked a 35-yard field goal, making it 9-0.

On Valdosta’s ensuing possession, the offense drove

into Camden territory, thanks to a 30-yard pass from Shelby Wilkes to Sherrod Inman and solid runs by Malcolm Joseph and Nelson Herring. But on first-and-10 from the Camden 25, Wilkes tried to throw deep into the end zone, but three Camden defenders read the play and the pass was picked off, killing the drive.

One of the challenges of facing a good wing-T team is that the defense must commit heavily to stopping the run, which quite often opens up the passing game. Ramsey didn’t throw much on Friday, but when he did, his receivers were almost always in single coverage. And he hurt Valdosta a couple of times with long passes.

Ramsey’s first long pass came three minutes into the second quarter, on second-and-4 from the Camden 46. Ramsey faked a handoff and threw deep. Camden wingback Kalvarez Bessent was 15 yards behind the closest defender, and he hauled in Ramsey’s pass and raced into the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown catch. Hudson Jordan’s extra point gave Camden a 16-0 lead.

Valdosta answered by driving 80 yards in 11 plays. Two third down completions by Wilkes helped move Valdosta inside Camden’s 40-yard line. Herring gained 10 yards, then Joseph ran for seven, moving the ball to the 19. Then Joseph took the handoff going left. He bounced outside to avoid a defender, got a block on the outside, then raced down the Valdosta sideline and into the end zone for a touchdown, cutting Camden’s lead to 16-6. VHS tried for the two-point conversion, but Herring was tackled at the 2.

On the first play from scrimmage on Camden’s next possession, Bessent broke off a 60-yard run, all the way to the Valdosta 19. Two runs and a penalty on Valdosta moved the ball to the 5. Then Bessent got the handoff on a buck sweep going left, and ran into the end zone to give his team a 23-6 lead with 2:03 left in the half.

Valdosta drove into the red zone in the final minute of the half, with Wilkes completing five of his first six passes for 51 yards. But Brennan Goodson’s 35-yard field goal attempt fell short, and the score remained 23-6 at halftime.

On its first possession of the third quarter, Camden drove 60 yards in 11 plays for its fourth touchdown. Ten of those plays were runs. On second-and-goal from the 1, Green took the handoff going right and crossed the goal line for his second touchdown of the game. The extra point was blocked, but Camden led 29-6.

In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Camden recovered a fumble at the VHS 40. On the next play, Ramsey fired deep and Christian Middleton hauled in the pass in tight coverage in the end zone for a touchdown, making the score 36-6.

On the next play from scrimmage, Herring coughed up the ball after a seven-yard gain. Camden middle linebacker Jarrad Davis (who has verbally committed to Auburn) scooped up the fumble and returned it 29 yards into the end zone for a touchdown, giving Camden a 43-6 lead.

Most of the fourth quarter was played with a running clock, due to Camden’s big lead.

For Camden, Ramsey passed for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Bessent rushed for 99 yards on five carries, while Jacob Johnson gained 62 yards on 14 carries. Green ran for 20 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

For Valdosta, Wilkes passed for 181 yards, but was picked off twice. Herring ran for 59 yards on 10 carries, while Joseph gained 44 yards on 13 carries and scored a touchdown.

Valdosta (3-2) has an off week next week, while Camden (5-0) hosts Coffee.