By Bryant Roberts

STATESBORO — The Valwood Valiants traveled to Statesboro last Friday to take on the Deerfield-Windsor Knights in the GIAA AAA state title game. One week after a dramatic overtime win over Tiftarea in the semifinals, the Valiants were hoping to do the same to their District 3 rival from Albany.

Unfortunately at the end of the night, the trophy went to Deerfield-Windsor, 19-15.

While trying to defend their 2023 title, the Valiants had been looking to get revenge for the 27-6 loss to the Knights on Oct. 18th, but Deerfield, 1-9 team a year ago, were able to slow down Valwood.

Starting with the ball first, the Valwood offense would not be able to get much going, punting just four plays into the game after penalties put the Valiants into a third-and-30 situation.

On the Knights’ first possession, the offense moved down field on the Valiants, getting all the way down to the Valwood 10 on a 12-play drive. On fourth-and-3, Hudson Paylo tackled the Knights’ runner short of the first down, giving the Valiants offense the ball back late in the first quarter.

Deep in their own territory to start the next drive, the Valiants offense stalled once again, being forced to punt after Triston White was tackled for a four-yard loss on third down.

The Valwood defense returned the favor on the Knights offense, forcing a punt of their own after a Mills Moorman tackle for no gain on third-and-4.

To start the next Valwood drive, Asher Wells connected with White for an 18-yard catch and run, giving the Valiants their first first down of the game. The Valiants drive was cut short just two plays later after a fumble on a long run that would have set the offense up near midfield.

The Knights ran the first quarter clock out over the next three plays with both teams being held scoreless.

With the ball to start the second quarter, the Knights would again march deep into Valiants territory, this time taking a 6-0 lead after a 16-yard touchdown pass. A successful PAT put the Valiants down 7-0.

For the second straight drive, the Valiants ended their drive after a turnover, this time with the Knights intercepting on a pass intended for Dywan Powell.

With the ball at the Valwood 17 yard line, Andrew Belcher got the ball back to the Valiants offense after intercepting the Knights quarterback.

Facing fourth-and-6 at their own 9, Valwood elected to keep the offense on the field. On the down, White picked up just enough for a first down, continuing the drive for the Valiants midway through the second quarter.

Over the next three plays, the Valiants were only be able to pick up one yard, being forced to punt the Knights. During the punt, the ball hit a Knights defender, giving the ball back to the Valiants at their own 34 yard line.

With a fresh set of downs, Braylon Neal picked up five yards on the first play. After an incomplete pass on second down, Neal gave the Valiants another first down and moved into Knights territory for the first time in the game after a 13-yard run. Neal continued to rack up yards, picking up seven on the next play.

Facing a second-and-3, Wells connected with Cort Kurrie for a five-yard catch and run. On the next play, the Valiants connected with Kurrie again, this time for a touchdown after Kurrie scored from 36 yards out. Tommy Marreo made the PAT, tying the game up at 7-7 late in the second quarter.

After a punt by the Knights on their next drive, Coach Brad Wells elected to kneel the ball out, ending the half in a 7-7 game.

On the opening second half kickoff, a Knights returner muffed the catch, allowing for a Valiants recovery at the Deerfield-Wndsor 40 yard line.

Two plays later, the Valiants took their lone lead of the night after a 30-yard touchdown run from White. After a penalty on the Knights on the PAT attempt, the Valiants elected to go for two to push their lead to 8. White wkept the ball on the quarterback-designed run, picking up the 2-point conversion. The Valiants led the Knights 15-7 early in the third quarter.

After forcing a punt on the Knights’ next possession, the Valiants gave the ball away for the third time in three quarters after a fumble.

The Valwood defense stayed firm, forcing a punt after a seven-yard drive by Deerfield midway through the third quarter.

After picking up four total yards on the first two plays of the drive, the Valiants found themselves inside Knights territory after a 36-yard run by White. After picking up five yards over the next three plays, the offense would stay on the field on fourth-and-5 at the Knight 30.

Belcher was the intended target as Deerfield-Windsor picked off another pass.

Deerfield-Windsor took advantage of the turnover, going on a 12-play drive that continued into the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Knights cut the Valwood lead to 2 after a 9-yard touchdown pass. Looking to tie the game up, the Knights elected to go for 2 but would be unsuccessful after a Moorman pass break-up.

After losing a yard on first down, the Valwood offense got a fresh set of downs after a 12-yard catch and run by Kurrie on a pass from Wells. Unfortunately, the Valiants were unable to continue to move the sticks, only picking up four yards over the next three plays.

During the punt, a defender ran into Eli White, giving the Valiants a fourth-and-1 decision at their own 45. Electing to keep the offense on the field, White would again keep the ball on a QB-designed run but was stopped behind the line of scrimmage.

The Knights took advantage of the short field, going on a six-play, 40-yard touchdown drive that gave Deerifled-Windsor the 19-15 lead with around six minutes to play in the game. The Knights tried to push their lead to 21-15 but were denied short of the goal line by a host of Valiants.

After losing five yards on the first play of the possession, Wells passed to Mason Corbett for a 10-yard gain. On third down, White took the hand-off from Wells but slipped at the line of scrimmage. On fourth-and-5, the Valiants attempted a trick play, but turned the ball over on downs after the White pass to Luke Lanier was incomplete.

Needing another stop for their offense, the Valwood defense again stayed stern, forcing a punt just four plays later.

With the ball at their own 10 yard line, the Valiants  need to go 90 yards in the final 1:35 to repeat as champs. After losing six yards on first and second down, the Valiants found themselves facing a third-and-16 at their own 4.

After picking up 10 yards on third down, Wells would connect with Belcher for a 34-yard pass with less than a minute to go. Two plays later, the Knights forced one more turnover, giving the ball back to Deerfield with less than a minute to go and zero timeouts for the Valiants.

The Knights needed only one kneel down, ending the game.