Dave Sundin | Special to the TimesValwood running back Jack Helms runs the ball during a game against Memorial Day at Goddard Field earlier this season.

HAHIRA — Valwood running back Jack Helms isn’t looking past Saturday. He’s not making any special plans.

He doesn’t even want to think about what will happen if Valwood doesn’t win.

“My main priority is to win, and if we do that, then I’ll start thinking about celebrating,” the senior said Tuesday.

Helms is just one of Valwood’s focused seniors hankering to finish their high school football careers as champions.

The final week of preparation was underway, but the thought of Saturday’s GISA Class AAA state final against the Deerfield-Windsor Knights (11-2) being a high school career-ending game hadn’t fully sunk into to Helms’ head.

“I don’t think it’s really hit me yet,” he said. “I think once it gets Friday and we get on board the bus headed for Macon, then it will really hit me: It’s time, that’s all I’ve got left.”

The realization hit wide receiver Maysoe Wiley on Monday.

“When we started this week, I knew this would be my last high school game, so I had to make this week great. For everything I’m going to want to do after this week, I have to make sure I get things done this week.”

The Valiants (11-2) would like nothing better than a fast start Saturday in Macon. The benefits of scoring early against a Knights team with big-play busting potential is something Helms said would solve a problem Valwood has been stuck with throughout the year.

“I think that’d be really big, because we’ve been coming on late every game this year,” he said. “But if we get a fast start, then we’ll be unstoppable.”

Linebacker Gahnon Byington said the key to creating the fast start they want will be executing big plays.

“I know sometimes when I see a guy catch a ball over some safeties, it kind of sets the tone,” said Byington, who leads Valwood’s defense with 56 tackles. “If we could just intimidate them by making some big plays early in the game, I think we can really cinch it up.”

The senior-guided Valiants didn’t let the loss in the GISA Class 3-AAA championship to Deerfield-Windsor on Oct. 30 deflate morale, and want to make the most of this second opportunity.

Henderson credited the seniors perseverance then, and for helping persevere the Valiants past Westfield in the semifinal last Friday in Perry, locking them into the state championship.

“It’s a testament of that senior class, I believe,” the coach said. “I think that’s a tough bunch of kids and they’ve won a lot of football games. They know what it takes to win and they don’t want to let their teammates down; that’s one thing.

“They’re not doing it for themselves, they’re doing it for their teammates, who are more like brothers than teammates. It’s a special group, that’s for sure.”

LEADING FROM THE SIDELINE

Rod Hughes, a senior center/ defensive lineman, tore his anterior cruciate ligament during Valwood’s region-opening 28-14 win against Tiftarea Academy on Sept. 18 and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

“It’s hard not playing because you want to contribute,” Hughes said. “Sometimes you know you can make a difference out there.”

Hughes may not be able to make a difference inside the lines during games, but from the sideline, he continues to provide the Valiants with the same dependable, veteran presence the coaching staff has come to count on.

“You try to motivate the guys that are still playing and you try to do everything you can to help,” he added.