VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Wildcats’ football season starts today, with a showdown at high noon in Gwinnett County.

The Wildcats will face North Augusta (S.C.) today at noon in the first game of the National High School Gridiron Challenge at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee.

This is the first time Valdosta has opened the season on the road since 2003.

The Wildcats drove to Suwanee last night, and spent the night in a hotel. Today, they will wake up and make a short drive to North Gwinnett’s Tom Robinson Memorial Stadium for the game.

This is the first of two games being played in the Gridiron Challenge. North Gwinnett will face A.C. Flora, another South Carolina team, at 6 p.m. A third game was scheduled for 3 p.m. between Stephenson and Pensacola (Fla.) Pine Forest, but Hurricane Isaac forced Pine Forest to cancel the trip.

“It’s attractive to play in a game of that caliber,” Valdosta head coach Rance Gillespie said. “At the time (we agreed to play), we did not know who our opponent would be (but) we knew it would be a quality opponent. ... It gives us a chance early in the year to (travel) and get our team accustomed to that.”

Valdosta’s opponent is a strong program from South Carolina. The Yellow Jackets are 34-5 in the last three seasons. In 2011, they went 12-2 and made it to the state semifinals, before losing to eventual state champion Goose Creek.

“They’ve got a good football team,” Gillespie said.

North Augusta has started the season with two victories. They beat T.L. Hanna 19-14 in their opener, then routed Midland Valley 49-0 last week. The Yellow Jackets scored touchdowns on six of their seven first-half possessions against Midland Valley.

Gillespie says that the fact that North Augusta already has two games under its belt is an advantage for the Yellow Jackets.

“That is a concern in and of itself. This is our first game, this is their third. That’s different,” Gillespie said. “The things they had to get out of the way that first week, they have. We still have those (first-game) obstacles to overcome, although we have had a scrimmage.”

Valdosta’s coach says North Augusta is impressive on offense, with some talented football players.

“Offensively, they’re a spread football team that plays fast,” Gillespie said. “They’ve got a big wide receiver that can really hurt you down the field as a vertical threat. The quarterback (Cody Turner) throws the football well. They’ve got a back (DeVonte Pressley) that rushed for over 100 yards in the first two ball games. He’s a good player. Probably the most impressive thing in their offense is their two tackles (Jake Whitley, who is 6-foot-4, 315 pounds, and Parker Collins, who is 6-3, 275). Offensively, they’re really good.”

Pressley has rushed for 277 yards and four touchdowns in North Augusta’s first two games. Turner has passed for 252 yards, while sharing time with another quarterback, Trib Reece.

The Yellow Jackets’ defense has only given up 14 points in two games.

“Defensively, they base out of a 4-3 defense,” Gillespie said. “The two defensive ends are long kids; they’re both 6-3. One of them’s (about 200 pounds), the other one’s 230. (The defensive tackles) are good players. The Mike linebacker is the only returning starter at linebacker; he played outside last year and they moved him inside. He’s about 6-2, 230, a real good football player. They’ve got three out of the four back in the secondary, so the secondary’s pretty special.

“Probably the best player on their football team is the safety, Trey Morgan, No. 7. He’s a good football player. They use him on offense. He can be a wideout, he can be a running back, he can be a wildcat-type guy at quarterback. And then he’s a good safety. He’s about 6-1, 190.”

Morgan made 124 tackles and six interceptions last season. He’s the No. 63 player in the state, according to SCVarsity.com. He only had one carry on offense last week against Midland Valley, but it went for a 25-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4.

Devin Grimes, another defensive back, is the No. 94 player in the state.

Last week, Pressley rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries and Willie McCloud ran for 106 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.

Gillespie believes that North Augusta is a good opponent to play in its opening game. He wanted to play a team that would challenge the Wildcats.

“(North Augusta) is a really quality opponent to open the season with. There’s no question about that,” the Wildcats’ coach said. “There’s good things (and challenges) that go with playing somebody that is the quality of North Augusta. Plus they’ve got a two-game head start on us.”



Directions to North Gwinnett High School: Take Interstate 75 north to metro Atlanta. Take exit 227 and get on Interstate 675 north. When I-675 ends, merge onto Interstate 285 heading east. Take I-285 to Exit 33, then get on Interstate 85 heading north. Take I-85 to Exit 111 (Lawrenceville Suwanee Road). Turn left onto Lawrenceville Suwanee Road. Go 2.3 miles. Lawrenceville Suwanee Road will turn into Suwanee Dam Road. Continue on Suwanee Dam Road for 2.3 more miles. Turn right onto Level Creek Road. North Gwinnett High School is on the left.