ATLANTA – Just when it appeared the Lowndes Vikings (0-1) were left for dead, they rose from the canvas and nearly landed a knockout punch.

On second-and-long from the 31-yard line, Walton quarterback Zak Roszman saw a hole and called his own number. Roszman exploded through the Lowndes defense and found the end zone to give Walton a 28-14 lead with 1:50 to play.

Game over, right? Not so fast.

The Vikings jumped on the back of their star quarterback and his trusted playmaker to change the narrative.

Jacurri Brown led a flurry of a drive that culminated in a 13-yard touchdown to Chase Belcher to cut the lead to 28-21 with 25 seconds to play.

Needing to recover the onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, the Vikings miraculously did so in short order – sending the crowd inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium into hysteria.

With 23 seconds to work with and favorable field position, Brown fired downfield to Khris Thomas for a big gain down to the 3-yard line.

Following a penalty for illegal motion, the Vikings had first-and-goal from the 8-yard line. With three seconds left, Brown rolled to his right to evade the Walton blitz and uncorked a pass to Belcher in the corner of the end zone. Belcher skied over the Walton defense and landed with his feet inbounds to tie the game at 28 as time expired.

“At 28-14, you thought it was over. You were getting ready for the speech after the game,” Lowndes coach Jamey DuBose said. “I believed in these kids. I will never not believe in them, and they believed in it and we’ve got coaches that believed. It showed up tonight. I’m just proud of the effort. I’m proud of the fight. I’m not proud that we lost, but I’m proud of us growing as a football team.”

In the extra session, the Vikings got the ball first from the 15-yard line. Despite the short field, the Vikings managed only 2 yards a first-down run before the Raiders stopped Brown for no gain and forced an incompletion to bring up fourth down.

Lowndes placekicker Franklin Aguilar came on to attempt a go-ahead field goal from 30 yards, but the kick pushed wide left to give Walton a chance to win on the ensuing possession.

Walton went to the man they’d leaned on throughout to decide the game: wide receiver, corner back and running back Sutton Smith.

Smith got the ball down to the 3-yard line for a first-down, then powered the ball in for the win as Walton (1-0) escaped with a 34-28 victory in the Corky Kell Classic.

Smith was named the Player of the Game after a fabulous all-around performance –– 14 carries for 95 yards and two rushing touchdowns, along with one 31-yard touchdown catch and three tackles on defense for good measure.

For a team lacking in experience, the Vikings seemed to come of age as the game wore on.

“We didn’t quit,” Brown said. “Through this whole game, I saw our guys work. Through this whole summer, we go through hell in the heat and everything like that. We didn’t quit. I saw nobody blaming anybody else. Defense, offense – we’re young. We don’t have a lot of experienced players, but one thing we’re gonna do is work. We’re going to come in and work on Sunday. 

“This game right here doesn’t define our season. We’re going to be great. We’ve got to win three region games, win the five in the state playoffs. We’re going to be great. We’re good.”

The Vikings overcame two 14-point deficits on Saturday, the aforementioned late comeback as well as an early 14-0 deficit in the first quarter.

Lowndes finished with 393 yards of total offense with 21 first downs and converted on 9-of-16 third-downs. However, a nuisance for the Vikings was penalties. The team was flagged 14 times for 115 yards.

The Vikings were also hurt by big plays through the air by the Raiders. Though they only completed six passes against the Vikings, the Raiders averaged 20.8 yards per completion.

“We (gave up some big plays on defense), but we also hurt ourselves. We shot ourselves in the foot offensively,” DuBose said. “A lot of plays we had out there and we made too many mistakes, too many penalties – from holding, to jumping offsides, to lining up, whatever it is.

“I thought, defensively, we played pretty well. (Walton) hit us on a couple big plays there, a couple of drives but…the defense wasn’t the problem tonight. Offensively, we played well there at the end and we grew up. That’s what I was proud of seeing. We grew up as a football team. A young football team became a mature team tonight. Hopefully, we’ll see that later on as the season goes.”

Walton finished with 298 yards of total offense, led by the playmaking of Roszman and Smith. Roszman was efficient throwing the ball – going 5 of 6 for 115 yards and two touchdowns – along with nine carries for 47 yards, including his 31-yard touchdown late in regulation.

Following a 26-yard touchdown run by Smith to put the Raiders on the board just 2 minutes and 40 seconds into the game, wide out Mustafa Hefner busted out the longest play of the game for the Raiders. Roszman connected with Hefner on a 62-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 14-0 not even midway through the first quarter.

CONTROLLING CLOCK

Trailing 14-7 at halftime, the Vikings opened the third quarter with a more deliberate, purposeful game plan on offense.

By slowing it down, the Vikings methodically meandered down the field for 7 minutes and 10 seconds, finishing the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Belcher to knot the game at 14. In all, the Vikings controlled the ball for 26:43 of game time. 

JACURRI’S START

Brown finished 10 of 19 for 164 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, the Miami signee had 22 carries for 152 yards and a touchdown with one fumble lost.

INSIDE AND OUT

Belcher made his official debut at running back, notching 12 carries for 40 yards before returning to his more natural wide receiver spot – a move that changed the game for the Vikings.

Moving back out wide, Belcher caught five balls for 46 yards and accounted for all three of Brown’s touchdown passes. Making his Viking debut, Khris Thomas had four catches for 80 yards, while Tate McGee had two catches for 43 yards. Jacarre Fleming also made an impact with six carries for 32 yards on the night.

A WIN IN A LOSS

Despite the loss, the Vikings left the field disappointed, but not dismayed. According the DuBose, the overtime loss was a small price to pay for his team to take what he believes is a substantial step forward.

“We’re in this atmosphere,” DuBose said, looking around Mercedes Benz Stadium. “We’re never going to be in something like this again. So, anything below this is just going to be easy for us, I think. This was tough. We had all brand new starters just about on O and D. We had four people back. With that being said, I think our guys got to mature and grow up a lot in this atmosphere tonight. I think, ‘A loss made us better,’ is what I’m trying to say.”

UP NEXT

Lowndes hosts Griffin in their first home game of the season this Friday, Aug. 27 at 8 p.m.

Shane Thomas is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.