Mary Ann Miller | Special to the TimesValwood quarterback Dru Womack (2) throws during a game against Frederica Academy Friday on St. Simons Island.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The Valwood Valiants had a lot of problems in the marsh in a 27-6 loss to Frederica Academy Knights Friday night.

It wouldn’t be a pretty night for the Valiants as a lot of miscues happened over the course of the night. With each mistake, the Knights capitalized.

The Valiants committed four turnovers on the night – three fumbles and an interception.

With the second quarter kicking off after both offenses had a scoreless first,  the Valiants found success with a balanced attack. 

Senior quarterback Dru Womack would march his offense down the field with great plays coming from the back field in Demetris Rosier carrying the rock for the Valiants.

With just 10:54 to go in the second, Womack decided to keep it for himself – running over a couple Frederica defenders to get the Valiants in the end zone for the first score of the game.

The Knights were unfazed by this touchdown as they had their star running back Jordan Triplett. 

The next Knights possession was simple: Get the ball to Triplett and let him work.

Quarterback Thomas Vale hit Triplett over the middle for a 20-yard touchdown with 8:31 left in the second quarter to give the Knights a 7-6 lead over the Valiants. 

Mistakes began to hurt the Valiants late in the second quarter as a bad snap put them behind the sticks after a promising start to the drive. 

Triplett took advantage of this by putting the Valiants’ defense in the spin cycle. With 1:38 left in the quarter, Triplett spun his way off a defender into the end zone – giving the Knights a 14-6 lead.

The Knights started the third quarter by going 4-for-4 running their wildcat offense. With 5:26 left in the third Vale found wide receiver Dakwon Vaughn for 9-yard touchdown to take a 20-6 lead.

Head coach Justin Henderson understands what comes in the first game of the season.

“Physically, we’ve got one of the best teams, we just got to improve our mental inside of the game.” Henderson said. “One play here, one play there and giving the ball up six times would hurt any offense. We’ve just got to get better mentally.”

UP NEXT

Henderson will have this week to get his band mentally prepared as the Savannah Christian Raiders roll into town this Friday night at 7:30 at Goddard Field.