Juston Lewis | Valdosta Daily TimesAalah Brown celebrates his second touchdown of the night after he scored on a 59-yard catch against Houston County. 

WARNER ROBINS — Valdosta’s offense has its groove back. 

The Wildcats (4-3, 2-0 Region 1-6A) defeated Houston County (5-4, 0-2) 31-14 to set up a region championship showdown this week.

After the Bears kicked a field goal to tie the game, Valdosta got the ball with 2:14 remaining in the first half. 

They scored in almost a minute, speeding down the field and capping the drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Amari Jones to Aalah Brown. 

It flipped the game for the Wildcats, who received the ball to start the second half and scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter. 

An 18-yard touchdown run by Chris Wolfe, a 71-yard dash by Terrell Denson and another Jones to Brown connection took Valdosta from participants in a slugfest to delivering knockout blows by the time the fourth quarter started.

“Honestly, we were just tired of everybody saying our offense wasn’t what it was,” Jones said after the game. “All week, it was Valdosta offense this, Valdosta offense that. We just…we were tired of it. I think we came out here with an attitude that we had to show everybody we’re still that offense that everybody thought we were supposed to be. I think we did a good job tonight.”

Jones finished the night completing 14-of-15 pass attempts for 249 yards and two touchdowns.

It appeared he’d have a third when Tajh Sanders caught a 30-yard pass right at the goal line, but he was ruled short.

The contest was a statement game for Jones, who played his best game as a Wildcat.

“A lot of stuff was working for us,” said Brown, who had two catches for 86 yards in the game. “We came out with a lot of intensity. Especially our front line, they played better than they had all week. Once we established the run game we were able to hit over the top deep … It boosts our quarterback’s confidence because he hit us deep a lot. Us making plays for him, him making plays for us with the scramble drills, it does a lot for the team overall.”

Both of Jones’ touchdowns came on connections to Brown, who said he was due for a big game. 

It seemed that all of Valdosta’s offensive players were. 

Sanders finished with 76 yards on six catches and Javonte Sherman had three receptions for 66 yards, highlighted by a jump ball snag over a Houston defender. 

Denson finished with 84 rushing yards and Wolfe added 73 total yards.

The unsung hero was the Valdosta offensive line, which kept Jones clean most of the night and created running lanes consistently.

“I thought we had some offensive success for the first time maybe all year,” head coach Rush Propst said after the game. “Since Warner Robins in game one or Bainbridge game two, probably the last time we had any offensive output like we did tonight. Outside of us fumbling with our number two unit, it was a really big night.” 

In the fourth quarter, Houston’s offense was able to score after Valdosta’s second team fumbled the ball deep in their own territory.

It was the only time the Bears saw the end zone on a night where Valdosta’s defense held them to 183 yards of total offense. Houston gained more yards on punts than on offense after racking up 248 yards from two punters. 

Aside from penalties that kept drives alive, the Wildcats looked every bit as menacing as they did against Northside.

UP NEXT 

With two region games completed, it opens the door for the region title to be decided Friday in Leesburg. 

Valdosta will meet Lee County (7-1, 2-0 Region 1-6A) and the top rushing duo in the region. Caleb McDowell and Preston Simmons have combined for 1,321 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns through eight games. 

The Wildcats and Trojans will face off Friday with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.