VALDOSTA — Gashed on the grounded and manhandled up front a week ago, the Wildcats are looking for redemption in their first of leg of their upcoming gauntlet.

No. 6 Valdosta High (1-1) hosts Bradwell Institute (0-2) and explosive running back Kevin Harris on Friday at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

In their first loss of the season, Tift County running back Mike Jones and the Blue Devils’ offensive line wore down the Wildcats’ defense and dictated much of the game. Jones finished with 32 carries for 174 of the team’s 275 rushing yards.

Timely stops helped Valdosta hold Tift County to 24 points, in spite of the yardage, but it isn’t a formula Wildcats head coach Alan Rodemaker, or the defenders, wants to replicate.

“I feel like they want to get out there and prove to people,” Rodemaker said. “I feel like we’ve gotten a little bit better defensively every week. I really have.

“I’m certainly not proud of giving up as many yards, over 200 yards last week rushing, which I never want to give up over 100. We’ve got to stop the run. Part of it is coaching, and part of it is the mental side of our kids.”

Valdosta has had its difficulties stopping the run since its spring game, and its a trend that has continued into the regular season.

Part of the issue stems from the team’s inexperience defensively, which has made it difficult to execute some of the automatic checks Rodemaker likes to utilize. Specifically, the Wildcats have had a tough time executing pressures and run blitzes.

One solution the coaching staff has explored is creating mismatches for the defense in the correct situations.

“We’ve shown the inability to check off and do a lot of things on defense that we normally do,” Rodemaker said. “So, we played a lot of base, and we can’t hold up in base. We’ve got to cheat a little bit, and to cheat, we’ve got to get five and six people down up front, and we’ve got to sneak eight or nine into the box.”

Valdosta’s adjustments will be tested immediately.

247Sports Composite rates Harris as a three-star prospect and the 44th-ranked running back in the Class of 2019. The South Carolina commit squats more than 600 pounds and power cleans more than 370.

At 5-foot-11, 230-pounds, Hall has 4.5-speed that he put on display when he ran for 1,680 yards and 16 touchdowns at 5.9 yards per carry as a junior.

“He’s going to be a bear to stop,” Rodemaker said. “We’re going to have to gang tackle him. I don’t want any one on one battles with him.”

Look for the Tigers to feed the Wildcats a steady diet of buck sweeps, counters, inside zone and power runs featuring Harris. How Valdosta holds up will give an insight into the team’s success over the next few weeks.

Harris is the first of three future SEC running backs the Wildcats will face over its next four games. Valdosta travels to Moultrie on Sept. 7 for a games against Colquitt County and four-star running back Daijun Edwards, who currently sports offers from suitors that include: Auburn, Florida State and Georgia. On Sept. 21, Lowndes and three-star Kentucky commit Travis Tisdale visits Bazemore-Hyder Stadium for the Winnersville Classic.

But Valdosta’s defensive performance isn’t the only unit to watch. The Wildcats’ offense is looking to bounce back from its first poor outing of the 2018-19 season.

Tift County held Valdosta to just 155 yards of total offense, thanks in part to 10 sacks of quarterback Tate Rodemaker.

The Wildcats need to be stronger in their pass protection, and their junior quarterback needs to get the ball out to avoid turning 2nd and 10 into 2nd and 15.

“We’ve got to give our kids the opportunity to get the ball out of our quarterback’s hands a little quicker,” Rodemaker said. “Our quarterback has got to check the protection and get rid of the football, and either throw it away or get it out quick to his checkdown, and be better know his protection.”

Lessons come with the territory when a schedule looks like Valdosta’s does, but Rodemaker isn’t sweating.

The Wildcats still have eight games remaining before they need to be at their peak.

“We need to go out and get after it, and show improvement on both sides of the ball,” Rodemaker said. “As long as we keep improving every week, which I think we have defensively, I’m not sure we didn’t take a step back last week offensively, if we keep growing on both sides of the ball, we’ll be there when the time comes.”

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