Shane Thomas | The Valdosta Daily TimesLowndes head football coach Randy McPherson addresses his team after winning a GHSA Class 7A State Semifinal game against North Gwinnett Friday at Martin Stadium.

VALDOSTA –– Lowndes is headed to the 7A state championship game after a 49-28 victory against North Gwinnett. Here are six takeaways from the game:

“Big” offensive explosion

Friday marked the most points in a half Lowndes has scored against 7A competition with 42. 

The Vikings led 28-7 after the first quarter behind a 95-yard touchdown run by Jacurri Brown, a 43-yard touchdown by Justin Lee, a 48-yard touchdown catch by Dominique Marshall and a 51-yard score by Brown. A 31-yard touchdown catch by Chase Belcher and short touchdown grab by Tony Wiseman in the second quarter gave Lowndes the most first half points since its season opening game against Drew. 

Facing one of the top offenses in the classification, the Vikings showed their own explosiveness. 

Brown just won’t go down

Brown’s 95-yard touchdown run is as impressive as a stat that you’ll see but the way it happened is mind boggling. 

With the Vikings backed deep into their own territory, he broke the line-of-scrimmage and bolted down the sideline. He broke through arm tackles and flailing defenders while maintaining his speed throughout the run.

All season fans have been treated to his athleticism but his will to make it to the end zone on the run was unmatched. 

And it was just the start. 

He finished the night with 200 yards on 16 attempts and two touchdowns and helped the Viking build an insurmountable first half lead. 

Curtain Solidified

With Brown and the Vikings’ offense humming, the Lowndes defense became relentless. 

They held an offense that was averaging 40.7 points per game to 28 points, and never allowed the Bulldogs to score twice in a quarter. 

The ‘Curtain finished with 34 total tackles, five tackles for a loss and two sacks. They turned to stone when the visitors tried to establish a running attack, keeping them at 14 yards on 21 attempts. 

North Gwinnett was 3-of-14 on third down conversions and were forced to punt nine times in the contest. 

The Bulldogs finished with 284 yards of total offense, largely on the back of North Carolina commit Josh Downs who had nine receptions for 201 yards and two touchdowns in the game. 

Region Awards

The Region 1-7A awards were announced on Monday morning and the region champions were not in short of recognition. 

Linebacker and running back Gary Osby was honored as the Player of the Year, defensive lineman Thomas Davis was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year, Tiberius Drocea was selected as the Athlete of the Year and head coach Randy McPherson was selected as the Coach of the Year. 

Jacurri Brown, Justin Lee, Israel Mitchell, Bryer Touchton, Robby Quiggins, Walker Corbett, Jacarri Williams, Mallen Pope, Eli Harrell, Leon Williams, Jacques Hunter, Jaylon Jones, Devonn Lane, Jalon Baker, Josh Brown, T.J. Quinn, Shawn Martin and Jose Palacios were named to the first team. 

Ghetti Brown, Tony Wiseman and Eli Harrell Cade Powell, Tylar Belcher and Brandon Brown were named to the second team. 

Dominique Marshall, Cornellius Wright, Dalvin Hughes, Chase Belcher, Hayden Wells and Caleb Roberts were honorable mentions. 

State Bound Statistics

The Vikings are headed to the state championship for the sixth time in program history. It is the first trip since 2007 where the Vikings were last crowned champions of Georgia.

Lowndes is undefeated in its five previous state championship games. The game will make Randy McPherson’s fourth appearance as coach of the Vikings—the most by any coach of Lowndes. 

The last time Lowndes was undefeated prior to competing in a state championship game was in 2004. Lowndes is averaging 39.6 points per game this season. If that number stays above 37.3, it’d be a record for most points averaged by a state championship team. 

Lowndes will face Marietta at 8 p.m. on Dec. 14 at Panther Stadium in Atlanta for the 2019 7A state championship. 

Menacing Marietta 

Lowndes is facing a team with the name Blue Devils for the third time this season but of all prior opponents this is the most dangerous. 

Marietta was the preseason No. 1 ranked team in the highest classification in the state. Losses to Grayson and McEachern during the regular season dislodged them from the top spot but they  are the biggest threat Lowndes will face all year. 

The Blue Devils were able to battle their way through four teams that held top-10 rankings throughout the season to make it to the championship game. 

They tout possibly the best quarterback in the state in Harrison Bailey and the newly-named state-wide player of the year Arik Gilbert. 

It’ll be a battle for who the true top team in the state is.

Juston Lewis is a sports reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times.