By Bryant Roberts

ALBANY — The Valwood Valiants (6-1) traveled to Albany Friday to take on the Deerfield-Windsor Knights (6-2) for a GIAA AAA District 3 matchup. The Knights stepped up and sprang a surprise on District 3, upsetting Valwood, 27-6.

The Valiants entered coming off a region opening win over the Terrell Academy Eagles while the Knights are coming off of 49-27 loss vs the Tiftarea Academy Panthers.

The Knights’ offense moved the ball early on the Valiants, taking the ball to the Valwood 11 yard line after a 44-yard pass on third down. After the long pass, the Valiants defense caught a break, getting off the field just a play later after forcing a fumble.

Following a four-yard rush from Braylon Neal on the opening play for the Valiants, Tayt Snellgrove used his legs to move the ball to the Valwood 44 after a 27-yard run. Two plays later, the Valiants offense moved to midfield after an eight-yard catch and run from Cort Kurrie.

After driving into Knights territory, a fumble gave Deerfield-Windsor the ball at their own 36.

The Knights took advantage of the Valiants turnover, moving downfield with passes of 13 and 38 yards on back-to-back plays. With the ball at the Valwood 6, the Knights struc, taking a 6-0 lead with a passing touchdown late in the first quarter.Deonte Henley burst through the Knights line, blocking the PAT attempt and leaving the score 6-0.

Dywan Powell’s kick return set the Valiants offense up at the Knights’ 48yard line and Valwood looked to replicate the success they had on their first drive. After only picking one total yard on the next three plays, Eli White punted the ball back to the Knights, pinning them at their own 4.

On the next Deerfield-Windsor drive, the Knights went on a long 15-play drive. Facing a fourth-and-3 at the Valwood 10-yard line, the Knights elected to keep their offense on the field. As the Deerfield QB scrambled to try and pick up the first down, Hudson Paylo met him in open space, giving the ball back to the Valiants on the 8.

Starting from the 8, the Valiants offense went on a long drive of their own, moving the ball towards midfield after a 22-yard rush from Snellgrove. He kept it again on the next play, making the 33.

Keeping the ball on the ground, Neal added 15 yards to his rushing total after a push from the Valwood offense unit. A penalty backed the Valiants up, but Snellgrove connected with Kurrie for the second time, picking up 13 yards.

Like the Knights, the Valiants faced a 4th down deep inside Deerfield-Windsor territory. Coach Brad Wells elected to keep his offense on the field, getting a fresh set of downs on a Snellgrove run. Unfortunately, on the next play, they lost the ball, giving the Knights the ball back at their own 6 yard line late in the half.

On the first play of the Knights drive, Ayundrae Belcher forced a fumble on the Knights receiver, allowing for Dustin Gibbs to return the ball back to the DW 2.

One play later, Snellgrove scored on a QB keeper. Much like the Knights’ PAT, Valwood’s attempt was blocked, keeping the score at 6-6 late in the first half.

Starting with the ball to open the second half, the Valwood offense got the ball at the Deerfield-Windsor 44 after a penalty on the kickoff.

On the first play of the drive, Snellgrove connected with Kurrie for 11 yards on the first play of the drive. On the next play, the Knights intercepted a pass in the back of the endzone.

After an unsportsmanlike penalty moved the Knights to their own 10 to start their drive, they needed only six plays to take the lead, finding a hole in the Valwood secondary for an 84-yard catch and run. A successful PAT pushed the lead to 13-6.

After the short punt gave the Knights the ball at the Valwood 32 yard line, Deerfield-Windsor played keep away, keeping the ball on the ground for the next four plays, taking a 20-6 lead late in the third quarter after a seven-yard rushing touchdown.

Much like their last drive, the Valiants offense stalled, being forced to punt the back to the Knights after only picking up one yard.

With the ball at their own 41, the Knights continued to keep the ball on the ground, running the rest of the third quarter clock out. Still on defense to start the fourth quarter, Valwood got the ball back after a forced fumble by Jackson Johnson.

With the ball at their own 32, the Valiants found their best success of the second half, moving the ball near midfield after a 10-yard rush from Neal and an 11-yard pass from Asher Wells to Cort Kurrie. The drive ended when Deerfield stepped up to make another interception.

Continuing to run the clock out, the Knights would move the ball into Valiants territory, taking advantage of the short field with a six-play scoring drive after a 31-yard touchdown pass. The kick made it a 27-6 game.

On their last drive of the game, Valwood built on their previous drive, moving the ball near Knights territory after rushes of 14 from Neal and 7 from Wells. On third-and-3, Wells connected with Mason Corbett for a 13-yard catch and run. He’d also have a 19-yard pass to Luke Lanier.

With the 27-6 loss, the Valwood Valiants fall to 6-2 (1-1 in 3-3A) while the Knights move to 7-2 (3-1 region).

Splitting quarterback duties, Snellgrove threw for 30 yards and Wells for 44. They combined for 9-of-15 attempts. Snellgrove had 90 yards rushing, including Valwood’s touchdown. Neal added 58 on the ground. Kurrie led with 43 receiving yards.

Johnson had eight tackles (one for a loss), and a forced fumble. Paylo made seven stops and recovered a fumble. Gibbs had two fumble recoveries.

The Valiants return to Goddard Field this Friday, Oct. 25, as they welcome the Brookwood Warriors for Senior Night.