VALDOSTA — It was just 24 minutes. 

It was just one Friday night in May.

But even the imperfect measurement of success was something the Lowndes Vikings could feel good about.

The Vikings’ varsity defense made possibly the most critical stop of the night to help the team best the Valdosta Wildcats 10-3 in a half of their spring scrimmage at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

Lowndes was sitting on a second-and-13 from its own 32-yard line with 2 minutes left when Barrett dropped back to pass. His throw, meant for a receiver over the middle, was tipped at the line of scrimmage and fell to rest in the hands of Valdosta’s Rasheed Arnold. The Wildcats’ defensive back returned the ball all the way back to Lowndes’ 10-yard line.

The Wildcats were in position to tie the game. But after an incomplete pass on first down and getting flagged for a 5-yard penalty on second down, they were forced to settle for a field goal after Lowndes’ Walker Schwab got initial pressure on quarterback Hunter Holt, Kadeem Burgman made the saving tackle.

“That was huge,” Vikings coach Randy McPherson said. “That was probably the series of the game for us. Overall, we played hard and had a very successful spring.”

Lowndes’ defense made four tackles for a loss and Tymere Moore forced a fumble.

For new defensive coordinator Byron Slack, he just wanted to see the type of effort it takes to be successful.

“One thing I was satisfied with was just the effort,” he said. “We got to get better from this point. An effort like this in August probably won’t be good enough, so from right now, we have to see if we can get better from this point, but the implications of what happened tonight are certainly good, but the effort is the main thing I’ll take any day of the week.”

Michael Barrett led a touchdown drive and Colton Broome kicked a 38-yard field goal to highlight Lowndes’ offensive night.

One series after fumbling the ball away, Barrett unloaded a pass to Marcus Gary and the senior running back took it the rest of the way to the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown with 4:47 remaining in the first quarter.

Running back J.D. Lee saw the bulk of the carries to lead the Vikings’ running game, and on a third-and-9 play from the Lowndes 31, Barrett connected with Tony Wiseman for a 43-yard gain along the right sideline for the Vikings’ longest offensive play of the game.

“We did some good things from time to time, running and throwing. Had a couple of big plays. It was just a half of football, but the couple of turnovers, though, weren’t real pretty. Overall, I’m pleased.”

The Wildcats started the second quarter with a 26-yard field goal to cut Lowndes’ advantage to 7-3. Broome’s 38-yarder came on a fourth-and-5 from the Wildcats’ 21 to boost the Vikings ahead for the final margin.

The Vikings’ offense fumbled twice and lost the ball once.

McPherson said all of Lowndes’ players got on the field Friday night and the coach got a chance to see some depth building in action.

“They played a lot like they did all spring in practice, played hard, and other than the couple of turnovers we had, I thought we played very well,” McPherson said.

Said Slack: “We’re still trying to find some things out up front. Some guys stepped up. (Jacquaveun Robinson), some young linebackers: Christian Stephens, some guys like that. 

“We got to look at the film, but I was satisfied with just the effort with those guys, particular in that varsity half. All the kids got out there and played, got a shot and did what they were supposed to do.”