VALDOSTA —
VALDOSTA — The Leon Lions come calling on the Lowndes Vikings tonight at Martin Stadium.
Coming off their loss to McEachern, who took over as the state’s No. 1-ranked team in this week’s poll, the sixth-ranked Vikings are looking to avoid back-to-back regular season losses for the first time since the end of the 2006 season, along with losing back-to-back home games for the first time since 1993.
As the Lions found out last year, it is a daunting task trying to hand the Vikings consecutive losses. In 2010, the Lions entered Martin Stadium to take on a Lowndes team that had lost the prior week to McEachern. Lowndes quickly proved their dominance over the Tallahassee-based team, building a 34-0 first quarter lead en route to a dominating 53-7 win.
“They had a rebuilding year last year,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. “They have a lot of kids back, so they are going to be ready.”
Following their 2010 loss to Lowndes, Leon went on to finish the season with a 5-5 record, and missed the playoffs. The Lions are 0-1 this season, falling 37-9 to Tallahassee Godby in their season opener last week.
Leon played two quarterbacks in their week 1 loss. Junior Sam Williams started the game, but completed just four of his 11 passing attempts, and was pulled from the game after tossing three interceptions. Senior Taylor Scott took over under center, although he was unable to post a better performance. Scott completed just five of his 12 passes, while also throwing an interception. On the ground, Leon will turn and hand it off to Juan Neloms, who rushed for 79 yards a week ago.
“We just have to play good defense,” McPherson said. “Get off blocks and make tackles. You know, we missed a lot of tackles last week, and in order to play great defense, that is what you have to do.”
McPherson and Lowndes know turnovers will play a factor. In their three games this season, the Vikings are plus-4 in turnover margin, despite committing five fumbles last week against McEachern.
“When you play physical and when you play smart, turnovers will happen,” McPherson said. “A lot of people look at it as luck, but when you play physical, you make good things happen.”
Offensively, the Vikings would like to see an improvement in the passing game with quarterback Lance Jarriel, despite the dominating performance the running game posted in the 2010 meeting, when the Vikings racked up 336 yards on the ground.
“I would just like to execute the way we know how to ... We had some break downs (last week), and I would like to get looking machine-like,” McPherson said. “We need to get better at throwing the ball and we are working on it and we plan on throwing it a little bit.”
Along with the passing game, senior Mike Moore will get the majority of the carries. Moore leads the team with 313 yards rushing on the year, eclipsing the 100-yard mark in two of Lowndes’ three games this year.
Moore rushed for a team-high 128 yards on just six carries while scoring three touchdowns in last years meeting against Leon.
Local Sports
Vikings welcome Leon Lions
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VSU teams hosting summer camps
The national champion Valdosta State softball team will host two separate summer camps this summer, as well as weekly clinics throughout the summer.
The two summer camps will be held on June 11-13 and July 9-11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The camps will cost $100 each. -
David Dean Youth Camp begins next week
The David Dean Youth Football Camp is quickly approaching.
The fourth annual camp will be held May 29-June 1 at the Athletic Fieldhouse off Mary Street. -
National champion head coach rewarded with new truck
National champion head coach rewarded with new truck Valdosta State head softball coach Thomas Macera was rewarded with a new Toyota Tacoma from Valdosta Toyota on Wednesday for his team’s 4-1 victory over the University of California-San Diego in the Division II Softball National Championship Game.
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Valwood’s Savino, Elliott named All-State soccer
Two Valwood boys’ soccer players have been named to the GISA Class AA All-State team.
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All-American again
Go ahead and add another award to resume of this year’s Valdosta State softball team.
Between conference player of the week awards, a national player of the week award, All-Conference and All-Region honors and four All-American awards, the national champion Blazers had plenty of individuals honored for performances throughout the season, which ultimately led to VSU’s first ever softball national title. -
Local area events coming soon
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Monday, May 28, there will be a Memorial Day 5K, which will begin at 8 a.m. from the VECA School located on the corner of Azalea Drive and College Street. -
Tech bound
Donjahae Jones gets it done in the classroom and on the track.
One of the top students in her class, and one of the top track and field competitors in the state, Jones will be taking her talents to the Division I level after she signed a track and field scholarship with Georgia Tech on Tuesday. -
Blazers garner All-Region honors
Two Valdosta State baseball players have been named All-South Region while a third has garnered Academic All-Region, according to announcements made by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and the Collegiate Sports Information Director's of America (CoSIDA) this week.
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Lowndes' Phelps named tennis Coach of the Year
Lowndes tennis coach Heath Phelps has been named the Region 1-AAAAA girls’ and boys’ tennis Coach of the Year, after he guided both teams to region championships.
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Wildcats close spring practice
VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Wildcats put their finishing touches on spring practice Saturday night with the playing of their annual spring game at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
No score was kept in the game, but the Wildcats did play best-on-best, pitting the starting offense against the starting defense. - More Local Sports Headlines
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VSU teams hosting summer camps
