TIFTON – Jacurri Brown threw for three touchdowns in a 26-7 win for the Lowndes Vikings over Tift County Friday night, but they never completely shook free of the Blue Devils in the Region 1-7A opener.

Seventeen of the points came in the second quarter, one that saw them expand a 2-0 lead to 19-7. However, Tift, mostly kept the high-powered Vikings’ offense bottled up.

Lowndes had almost no success on the ground against the Devils. The Vikings attempted to run the ball 38 times and only got an unofficial 91 for their efforts. Sixteen of those carries were for zero or negative yards.

Just as big an enemy to Lowndes was that of the yellow flags. They lost 115 yards to penalties, with eight being false starts. Tift only saw 35 yards disappear on flags.

A tremendous help for the Devils’ defense came via a new-look offense. Jackson Strickland played his game under center and only four possessions saw Tift go 3-and-out, giving the defenders more time to rest.

Lowndes led throughout, but the first quarter ended in a very unusual 2-0 score. Carson Page pinned Tift inside its own 10 on their first possession. The Blue Devils were unable to move forward and, on fourth down, a high punt snap sailed out of the end zone.

The ensuing possession off the free kick saw the Vikings reach Tift’s 25, but a 42-yard field goal attempt fell short.

As the period ended, Brown had his team on the move, completing a first down pass to Khris Thomas and running for another himself.

The second started with Lowndes on the 22. They were immediately hit with a false start, but on the next snap Brown fired a laser beam to Justin Barron for a 27-yard touchdown at 11:53. Franklin Aguilar made the first of three extra point kicks and it was a 9-0 advantage.

Tift came back with their sole touchdown drive of the night, one that got a big boost from Strickland.

On first down at his own 35, Strickland tucked the ball, found a crease in the defensive line and headed up the Vikings’ sideline. No one caught him until he reached the 17, a 48-yard gain.

Zach Carter and Strickland gained eight yards in three plays, setting up fourth and short at the 9. Strickland lined up his men to go for it, then the Devils pulled a bit of trickeration, with everyone but Strickland center Liam Gray shifting to the left side of the field. The play pulled a Lowndes lineman offsides, resulting in a first down.

From the 4, Carter gained one yard and Strickland added two. On third and goal at the 1, Strickland pushed behind his big line over the plane and Tift had a touchdown at 8:15. Antonio Gomez kicked the extra point and it was now a 9-7 contest.

Lowndes responded, albeit slowly. On first down at their on 25, Brown was run out of bounds by the pass rush, results in a gain of negative three yards. He hit Thomas on third down to move the sticks. Two plays later, Tift had Brown on the run again in the backfield and he threw a desperation pass that Thomas reeled in for 29 yards at the 35.

Brown picked up another first down at the 18, but the Vikings began going backwards.

He missed a pass, then a run went for zero and they were backed up on a false start. Brown ran around in the backfield again and hit a wide open Chase Belcher in the back of the end zone, but the Vikings were called for ineligible man downfield.

From the 28, Brown tried again and Belcher came through with a catch for a touchdown at 3:43. This one counted and it was a 16-7.

The Vikings tacked on a field goal with 25 seconds left after blocking a Blue Devils punt, Alijah Mckeithern recovering at the 11 with two minutes to play.

Tyre West kept Brown from going anywhere on a run and Lowndes was still on the 11 on fourth down and Aguilar made the 28-yard try.

Lowndes recovered a sky kick at Tift’s 31, but 10 more yards in penalties left them on the 28 with seven seconds to go. Brown fired incomplete to the sideline as the half ended.

Early in the third, Lucky Smith prevented Brown from starting another drive by knocking away a pass on third down. The ensuing punt led to Tift’s second best drive of the evening.

Strickland threw to Carter for a 17-yard gain on first down, putting the Devils in Lowndes territory at the 48. It was fourth and two at the 40 when head coach Noel Dean sent in the punting unit. Instead of going to Gomez, however, the ball went to Carter and his zipped through for a six-yard gain and a first down at the 34.

Tift took at the shot end zone there, but Tyler Parker couldn’t quite reel in a Strickland pass that had been deflected by a defensive back. Early in the fourth, Strickland and C.J. Henley barely missed on a long completion.

Brown found Belcher for a 64-yard touchdown pass at 9:26 in the fourth.

West and Bubba Ellis had sacks later in the quarter. Josh Pickett snagged an interception for the Vikings at Lowndes’ 6 in the final two minutes.

In his first ever start at quarterback, Strickland completed a pair of passes, but was much more successful on the ground, running for 108 yards and a touchdown on 18 attempts. Carter added 14 rushing yards and 17 receiving.

Brown hit 14 of 19 passes for 263 yards. Belcher gained 91 on three catches. Thomas had 11 on six catches while Justin Barron had three catches for 41 yards.

Brown also got 50 yards on 18 carries with Belcher adding 35 on seven attempts.

UP NEXT

Lowndes hosts Colquitt County this Friday. Colquitt escaped with a 31-28 overtime win over Camden on Friday.