VALDOSTA — Lowndes and Valdosta have been a powerful 1-2 punch in Region 1-6A this season. Tonight, they will see the same, a 1-2 punch of the state’s top two teams in Class 6A. Valdosta is at No. 1 Carrollton with Lowndes at No. 2 Buford.

Meanwhile, Valwood is set to defend its GIAA Class 3A championship against Deerfield-Windsor at Statesboro’s Paulson Stadium. The two are region rivals, with the Knights winning the regular season contest.

Carrollton enters at 11-0, having outscored opponents by an average score of 47-14. They’ve faced four ranked teams in 2024, and Woodward Academy, the No. 3 team in 5A, is the only one of the Trojans’ opponents to come closer than 21 points.

Quarterback Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis is by far the most visible player for Carrollton and possibly the state’s top prospect. Lewis has been in the national sports news twice this week, once for de-committing from Southern Cal. The other came Thursday, when he announced he would play for Deion Sanders at Colorado on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”

Lewis, who is only old enough to be a junior, has bumped up his studies to graduate in 2025.

How good is Lewis? Valdosta fell to him 45-28 in last year’s second round, also played at Carrollton. The Wildcats were down 10-7 at halftime, but saw the Trojans explode for 28 points in the third frame. Lewis was held to 209 yards, but threw for four touchdowns.

As one would expect from a maturing player, Lewis has gotten even better from a year ago. He’s completed an amazing 78% of his passes (200 of 257) for 2,842 yards. Even more impressive — Lewis has 40 touchdown passes to four interceptions.

Unfortunately, Valdosta cannot focus too much on Lewis. Kimauri Farmer is in position to top 1,000 rushing yards in this game. He has 13 touchdowns rushing and will occasionally catch a pass out of the backfield.

Todd Robinson wowed announcers for athleticism in the 2023 game between the two, where he rushed for 167 yards and threw for 130. Though he’s battled an ankle injury for the second half of the season, the passing numbers have been even better.

Last week against Walton, Robinson threw for 414 yards and five touchdowns. Marquis Fennell has stepped up and then some as Deron Foster comes back from injury. Fennell is up to 803 yards this year on the ground and 1,336 all-purpose yards with his receiving and return abilities.

Eli Lewis and Prince Jean both had massive games against Walton. Lewis caught 11 balls for 225 yards and three scores. Jean had nearly 120 yards and the other two touchdowns.

This is the third meeting between the Wildcats and Trojans, all in the past four seasons. Carrollton is 2-0.

Buford is Georgia’s No. 2 team in Class 6A. The Wolves are undefeated at this level. They’re 10-1 on the year, but that loss came in week one by three points to Milton, the favorite to win the 5A crown.

On a stacked schedule of six ranked teams in the regular season, Buford’s average score has been 38-11. In the first round against East Coweta, the Wolves ran off 50 straight points after falling behind early, 9-7.

Long the scourge of southern Georgia teams, Buford was a Class A school as late as 2001-02. They’ve grown rapidly since, somewhat in part for out-of-zone attendees — Buford is a city school system.

The Wolves have 13 state championships since 2000, though they are in somewhat of a drought: quarterfinals a year ago and second round in 2002.

Buford’s defense is scary.

Their MaxPreps stats credit them with 62 tackles for lost yardage, nearly six per game. Add that to their 23 sacks (seven by Bryce Perry-Wright), 11 interceptions and 11 forced fumbles.

On offense, the Wolves average 7.6 yards per carry, led by Justin Baker and Ethan Ervin. Quarterback Dayton Raiola has thrown for 1,558 yards and 17 touchdowns. He is not one of their runners.

Lowndes used 14 fourth quarter points to pull away from North Paulding in the first round. Marvis Parrish had three rushing touchdowns.

As it has for Buford, the Vikings’ defense has been outstanding this year as well. Going into state, they were allowing a mere 13 points per game. Minus their lone loss to Colquitt, that number would be 10 points per game.

Like Buford, Lowndes has 62 tackles for lost yardage, 13 from Montel Hundley and 12 by Landen Wright. Hundley adds in six sacks for the year. As a team, they have 13 interceptions, 11 forced fumbles and four blocked field goals.

Sophomore sensation Jayce Johnson has nearly 1,700 passing yards. Though Parrish and Aalim Brown get most of the credit for the Vikes’ rushing game, Johnson has continued to improve and is up to 308 yards for the year.

Both Valdosta and Lowndes have another opponent tonight, one a little more difficult to prepare for here: cold temperatures. Though Carrollton is south of Buford, it’s there The Weather Channel predicts colder temperatures, about 40 degrees at kickoff. By the end of the game, it might dip into the 30s.

Buford, in comparison, will be a toasty 42 for the Vikings when the contest begins. Fortunately, no rain is predicted for either site.

Should either school make it through the second round, Valdosta would face either Peachtree Ridge or Hillgrove. That contest would be on the road. Lowndes’ opponent would be North Gwinnett or Newton. A North Gwinnett win would have the game in Suwanee; a Newton-Lowndes matchup would be at Martin Stadium.

Colquitt County, which hosts Collins Hill tonight, would have a quarterfinals game either at home against Norcross or on the road at Grayson.