By Adam MacDonald
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA — The Lowdes Vikings continued to roll Friday night with a 50-7 win over the Tift County Blue Devils at Martin Stadium.
For the third time in five games, Lowndes (5-0, 2-0 in Region 1-AAAAA) scored on the first play from scrimmage. Vikings’ running back Troy Braswell took the opening handoff and raced 65 yards for touchdown to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead.
The Vikings didn’t waste any time scoring on their next drive either. After an incomplete pass on the first play of the offense’s second series, Khary Franklin dashed 85 yards to the end zone on the second play to put Lowndes up 14-0.
The Vikings never looked back.
“Well, I think when you get the ball on the first possession and score it’s a huge advantage, especially when your defense plays so well,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. “It’s great. I’m proud of our kids, and I’m proud of our coaches. We came out and played hard.”
The Vikings also scored on the first play from scrimmage against Ware County when Franklin scored on a 71-yard run. They scored a touchdown against Peachtree Ridge on the first play from scrimmage when Tyler Hunter forced a fumble and returned it to the end zone.
After the early game fireworks, Tift County’s defense settled down. It was too late, however, because the Vikings’ defense had all the points it needed. The Tift County offense had nine possessions in the first half. Six of those possessions ended in punts, two ended in turnovers and the last one ended because time ran out in the first half. The Blue Devils’ only touchdown came in the fourth quarter against the Vikings’ backups.
“We really worked them hard this week,” McPherson said. “They felt like they didn’t play their best last week.”
The Blue Devils only managed 161 yards of total offense. Quarterback Malcolm Dixon struggled. He completed less than 50 percent of his passes, threw two interceptions, fumbled the ball and was limited to 11 rushing yards. Several of his passes were deflected, as he was hit and harassed all night by the Vikings.
“We got a lot of pressure on him,” McPherson said. “We didn’t get pressure on the quarterback last week and we made that a point of emphasis.”
Linebacker Telvin Smith was a big reason why Dixon was under pressure all night. He had seven tackles, including three for a loss.
“The game plan said (Dixon) was the best player on the team, so of course the defense focused in on him,” Smith said. “The defense did what we were coached to do. We focused on everybody, but we put a little more focus on him.”
Geraldo Orta and Brian Moore had interceptions, and James Mathis recovered a fumble.
After giving up four plays of over 30 yards last week to Colquitt County, the longest play the Vikings gave up to Tift County was a 27-yard pass in the fourth quarter.
“People on the line stepped up,” Smith said. “Last week we had a few mishaps lining up. This week I feel we worked hard in practice and got better.”
The Vikings offense made several big plays besides Braswell’s opening 65-yard run and Franklin’s 85-yard run. Braswell added another 65-yard touchdown run, Sam Duncan had a 35-yard touchdown run and Orta had a 33-yard touchdown run.
Franklin scored a second time on a 12-yard touchdown run, and Tyler Hunter scored on a six-yard run.
The Vikings racked up 429 yards of offense, with 409 yard coming on the ground.
Braswell carried the ball six times for 156 yards and had two touchdowns. Franklin had 143 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.
The Vikings will take their 5-0 record on the road next Friday when they travel to Northside-Warner Robins.
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