VALDOSTA — The Atlanta Falcons hope to bring home Georgia’s first-ever Super Bowl title, a prospect that has revived a chronically disappointed – and now suddenly expanding – fan base.

But down in Valdosta, a city famous for its high school football success, a community is torn.

“There are a lot of people who’ve said, ‘We hope the Falcons win, but we really hope Malcolm gets a Super Bowl ring,’” said Chris Beckham, who hosts a local sports talk radio show.

He’s referring to Malcolm Mitchell, who is a wide receiver for the New England Patriots. You know, the opposing team.

Not only is Mitchell a former Valdosta High School standout, he was also a Bulldog at the much beloved University of Georgia.

To make things even more confusing, he is also a children’s book author who passionately champions literacy. He’s a hard guy not to love, especially in a city where high school football reigns supreme.

Valdosta was crowned “TitleTown USA” nearly a decade ago by fans participating in a national ESPN contest, largely for the dominance of its high school teams.

The Valdosta High Wildcats’ Class 6A state championship last fall was the 24th in team history. Its crosstown rival, the Lowndes High Vikings, has won five.

The city, just north of the Florida line, is home to some 56,000 people as well as the Valdosta State Blazers (who play in Division II and have won three national football titles.)

More than 200 miles south of Atlanta, locals say it’s easy to feel removed from the home state pro team’s success.

Even so, several locals said this week that they’ll pull for the Falcons in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Patriots, although it won’t be with the same passion reserved for high school and college teams.

“There’s just a different intensity about it,” said Scott Wall, a self-described Bulldogs and college football fanatic, as he worked the counter at Stogies, a cigar shop downtown. “The pros don’t really start putting it on the line until the playoffs when they all start making money.”

Even longtime, faithful Falcons fans know their place here.

“It starts and ends at the high school,” said Richard McClary, a Valdosta native and lifelong Falcons fan who picked up a secondary affinity for the Chargers when he was stationed in San Diego while in the Navy.

The Falcons’ success, though, has inspired some local love for the pro team.

McClary said he enjoys the camaraderie.

“I think the Falcons woke up a lot of folks in Valdosta,” said McClary, a sales manager at Looking Good, a men’s clothing store. “We have a lot of folks come in and say, ‘How about them Falcons? Hey, them dirty birds!’ And I’ll say, ‘Where you been for 10 years?’”

The Falcons have had a history of coming up short. More than half of the team’s 51 seasons have ended with losing records. Its last winning season was in 2012, and its last trip to the Super Bowl was in 1998.

Still, even in Valdosta, the team has fans.

There’s Matt Edwards, a lifelong devotee who huddles every Sunday with others inside a smoky bar just outside of town called Cuz’s. They follow the Falcons, even when it means peering into a smartphone because the local TV station isn’t carrying the game.

There’s also Daniel Horne, who relocated from Atlanta and said he was relieved to find “plenty” of Falcons fans here.

He said he’s delighting in the growing interest in his team.

“The Super Bowl is definitely helping,” Horne said.

Beckham, the sports commentator, said interest is likely fleeting, however, regardless of the outcome Sunday.

Sure, there will be cheers, as well as more people walking around in red-and-black caps and T-shirts. But the priorities won’t change.

“Down here, people will celebrate it and then a week later, they’re going to be talking about high school football,” he said.

“If you were to ask somebody in Valdosta if they would trade an Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl win for their high school state championship, it wouldn’t take them two seconds to answer that they’d rather have the state championship for their high school,” he said. “That’s not even close.”

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.

Derrick Davis is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.