Dave Sundin | Special to the TimesAalah Brown prepares to catch a touchdown in the Winnersville Classic against Lowndes. 

VALDOSTA –– It’s time to turn the page. 

The Valdosta Wildcats (2-3) open region play against the Northside Eagles (3-4) at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

The start of region play grants the Wildcats the opportunity to right the ship on their season. 

The Wildcats look to leave behind the two game cancellations due to COVID-19 concerns that would’ve likely resulted in wins for the team and, more importantly, game reps for players. 

They’re looking to leave behind two losses to 7A rivals by a combined score of 57-31.

They’re looking to leave behind the GHSA’s ruling of ineligibility and subsequent denial of reinstatement for quarterback Jake Garcia that drove him to transfer to another program where he’s allowed immediate eligibility.

And, they’re looking to find the start of a state championship run.

“You’re zero and zero,” Valdosta head coach Rush Propst said on the start of region play. “When it comes to region play and seeding for the playoffs everything that you’ve done means absolutely nothing, as far as winning a state championship. Everything you do from here on out means everything to try and win the state championship.” 

“It’s about playoff seeding. It ain’t about winning a region championship,” Propst continued. “When you’ve only got four teams in a region, I’m not going to celebrate a region championship. I’ve always talked about playoff seeding. The next three games will determine if you are one, two, three, or four going into the very most important ball games you’re going to play all year.”

Coming off a 41-0 undermanned victory against Westside, the Wildcats want to continue building their momentum. 

This week, the players that were forced to quarantine out of precaution will return. It’s perfectly timed as Northside boasts one of the top receivers in the classification in senior Justin Luke. 

Luke leads Region 1-6A in receiving yards and had a five-catch, 143-yard outing last week. He had touchdowns of 32, 50 and 51 yards in Northside’s 43-9 victory against Luella.

To give an indicator of how much of an impact Luke has had during his senior campaign, take his numbers from his first two varsity seasons.

In his sophomore and junior seasons, Luke had 25 receptions for 352 yards and four touchdowns combined. 

Through Northside’s first seven games, Luke has 32 receptions for 618 yards and four touchdowns.

“They like a lot of 50-50 balls to (Luke), so we just have to go defend him,” Propst said on Northside’s offense. “It’s not nothing special that they’re doing, he’s just making plays. I think that Northside has great tradition. I respect them.” 

Last year, the Wildcats defeated the Eagles 48-7 in the final regular season game. This season, the Eagles have a renovated offense that scores an average of 28.3 points per game during wins. 

The Valdosta defense gets back standout defensive back, JaDarian Rhym, this week. He was among the players quarantined after contract tracing tied them to a teacher that tested positive for COVID-19. 

In the last game Rhym played in, Lowndes didn’t attempt a pass to his side of the field. 

Now facing Northside and Luke, it’ll be a matchup to watch all game long. 

The Valdosta offense has made major strides since the third quarter of the Lowndes game. Quarterback Amari Jones used his legs to unlock a new dimension to an already dangerous offense. 

Against Westside, it was Jones’ arm that powered the Wildcats, passing for 193 yards before being subbed out because of the large lead. 

After losing Jake Garcia, Jones isn’t feeling any additional pressure but he’s looking to continue overcoming adversity and minimizing mistakes.

“Minimize mistakes,” Jones said on the message from coaches this week. “The team that makes less mistakes will win the region. We know this is for seeding and we’re trying to get all four (playoff games) at home. The region play is big for us.”

“Overcoming adversity,” he added on what this season has taught him. “We’ve had a lot of adversity. Cancelling games, losing a player, losing Jake—he was a big part of our team. He was actually a big brother to me. It’s actually been overcoming adversity and I think this team, we’ve done well with overcoming adversity.” 

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.