Dave Sundin | Special to the TimesValwood tight end Worth Kimbro (23) stiff-arms a defender during a game against St. Andrews Friday at Goddard Field.

HAHIRA – The Valwood Valiants raced out to a 30-7 halftime lead against the St. Andrew’s Lions, riding on the strength of their running game, and was looking to cruise to their first win of the season. 

However, at 10:15 p.m., the game was called after an hour-long delay due to lightning as storms rolled into South Georgia. Still, the game will go into the books as a win for the Valiants (1-0).

The Valiants started the game off by forcing an early stop on defense, getting a third down sack to set the tone early. 

Some solid running from sophomore athlete Tristan White helped put Valwood in scoring position, with junior athlete Dallas Hatfield capping the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run. The Valiants missed the extra point, however, keeping the score at 6-0.

The missed PAT caused head coach Justin Henderson to decide to go for two for the remainder of the half, all in the name of preserving senior kicker Ean Henry’s confidence.

“We had some PAT issues for the first half of last season, and Ean will work it out,” Henderson said. “I would describe him as a golfer, and every once in a while, he’ll get a hitch in his swing. I didn’t want to hurt his confidence more than it probably already was because he is a good kicker. I just didn’t want it to have a snowball effect.”

St. Andrew’s answered the bell on their next drive. A huge gain by wide receiver Zaire Edwards put the Lions in the red zone, with the Lions punching it in a few plays later to take a 7-6 lead.

After both teams exchanged three and outs to end the first quarter and begin the second quarter, Valwood began to take control of the game on both sides of the ball.

White burst through the secondary with a 51-yard run. A couple of plays later, White ran it in for a seven-yard score, with the Valiants converting the two-point conversion to go up 14-6.

The Valiants began dialing it up on defense with a relentless pass rush to keep elusive quarterback Zayden Edwards in the pocket. Senior defensive end/tight end Worth Kimbro helped put an end to the Lions’ march with a sack.

On the Valiants’ ensuing drive, a 27-yard catch and run by Kimbro put Valwood on the fringe of the red zone. However, the promising start to their drive ended in disaster as White fumbled the ball and turned it over.

Still, Valwood’s defense rose to the occasion as freshman linebacker Dywan Powell shut down the Lions’ drive with a 14-yard sack to force a third and long, which the Lions could not convert.

With solid field position, the Valiants aired it out on their next drive, dialing up a 35-yard strike from junior quarterback Kyle Beath to senior wide receiver Eli Pay. Valwood again converted the two-point try to go up 22-7 with just over two minutes remaining in the half.

Valwood was then gifted with a fumble as the ball hit the turf on a botched handoff. 

The Valiants took advantage and was able to march into the end zone, with Hatfield scoring on a two-yard run with 18 seconds remaining in the half. Once again, the Valiants were successful in going for two as they took a commanding 30-7 lead into halftime.

However, just as the teams were getting ready to come onto the field for the second half, lightning was reported nearby, delaying the game for over an hour. The game was ultimately called as St. Andrew’s had to make a long trek back to Savannah.

Despite only one half of the game was played, Henderson was pleased with the Valiants’ rushing attack in the game, as they surpassed 100 yards on the ground in the first half. Much of that success, according to Henderson, was because of their offensive line.

“We’ve got four offensive linemen that returned, and a couple of those returners are seniors, and Connor Hutto returned and he’s a preseason all-state GISA guy,” Henderson said. “We feel like they’re pretty good. We feel like we’ve got a situation that we’re going to be able to run the ball well. I feel like we could have run it 50 times tonight and been successful.”

Still, Henderson would like to see continued improvement in the passing game.

“We do need to pass it more,” he said. “We need to continue to try to pass it and be successful in the passing game.”

As for the defense, everything went according to plan. Worried about the threat of Zayden Edwards running the ball, Henderson decided to go with a three-man defensive line to keep him in the pocket, which worked to perfection.

“We thought if we kept him in the pocket, we’d be successful,” Henderson said. “If you look at the first drive to the end of the game, that something that we did a much better job on the QB and a better job in coverage.”

Despite the convincing win, Valwood did commit a fair share of penalties, much to the dismay of Henderson.

“The false starts were all on wide receivers,” he said. “We were running a freeze play, and you have no offensive call called on a freeze play. They’re going to freeze and then look at the sideline, and two receivers jumped. We also got a substitution call on a punt return. That’s the kind of stuff that can’t happen.”

UP NEXT

Valwood travels to St. Simons to face Frederica Academy (1-1) this Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m.