Dave Sundin | Special to the TimesValdosta wide receiver Tarrell Roberts (2) runs past Lee County cornerback Caleb McDowell (5) during Region 1-6A game Friday at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

VALDOSTA –– Sometimes it’s best to leave well enough alone.

The Valdosta defense forced Lee County to punt with 34 seconds remaining in regulation. Rather than let the ball bounce, Valdosta tried to field the punt and couldn’t secure the ball as Lee recovered deep in Valdosta territory with 29 seconds to play.

With a renewed chance at victory, the Trojans worked the ball down to the Valdosta 1-yard line, until a false start moved the ball back to the Valdosta 6-yard line. Following a timeout, with the game knotted at 50. Lee’s Austin Beaver lined up for a 20-yard field goal with 2.9 seconds left from the left hash mark.

The kick was good off Beaver’s boot as No. 4 Lee County (7-1, 2-0 Region 1-6A) stunned No. 3 Valdosta (7-2, 2-1) 53-50 on Friday night, denying the ‘Cats their 43rd region championship.

“We didn’t play well enough on defense and made a couple little errors on special teams that really cost us the game, but I’m proud of our team,” Valdosta head coach Alan Rodemaker said. “But you know what? This is just the beginning. This ain’t the end. We’re gonna take this in and we’ll move on –– get better.” 

‘Cats receiver Tarrell Roberts came through with a 34-yard go-ahead touchdown that gave Valdosta a 50-43 lead with 6:46 to go. With the score, the ‘Cats looked like they’d finally gotten the Trojans in their rearview mirror with 4 minutes and change to play.

That is, until Trojans quarterback Kyle Toole had his say.

Facing a third-and-7 from midfield, Toole took a low snap off the turf and dropped back to pass with the pocket collapsing around him quickly. As the ‘Cats closed in, Toole looked certain to be sacked with at least three Valdosta defenders trying to bring him down.

Miraculously, Toole turned and fired a blind pass to his left hoping to avoid a sack. The throw ended up being a successful shot in the dark, as Toole’s pass lofted right into the hands of receiver Chauncey Magwood, who glided down the Lee sideline and into the end zone for the game-tying touchdown with 4:11 remaining.

“I was proud of the way our offense moved the football –– they certainly gave us a chance to win, but we didn’t play good enough all night on defense,” Rodemaker said. “We had some good stops at the end. And then, what a play. When (Toole) made that play where he scrambled and threw it back –– what a play. … That was one hell of a high school football game. I’m glad to be part of it. I would’ve rather been on the winning end of it, but we’re in the playoffs and we’ll see how this works out. … I love our football team. I’m so sorry I couldn’t give them a victory tonight.”

With the exception of their first few scoring drives in the first quarter, the ‘Cats were forced into playing with a long field much of Friday’s game. Conversely, mistakes by the ‘Cats in the special teams game gave the Trojans several short fields to work with in the second half which led to easy scoring drives.

Toole made critical plays for the Trojans all night, including a passing touchdown and running in for a two-point conversion with 6:20 to go in the third quarter that tied the game at 36. The play came 1 minute and 12 seconds after Roberts exploded for a 91-yard touchdown to put Valdosta in front 36-28.

“The field position was tough,” Rodemaker said. “We gave them, not a short field, but it seemed like every time they got the ball towards the middle of the game, it was right at our 50-yard line. Part of that is because we don’t cover kicks well. Our kickers didn’t execute kicks well. We had them –– we wanted to spray it all over deep and we just missed. They were getting kicks and getting it out to the 50-yard line and when they had a short field, we didn’t fare so well. If we made them drive 80 yards, we were a lot better.”

For the ‘Cats, Friday’s loss sets them up for a region finale against Northside on the road next week. After missing out on clinching the region championship, the ‘Cats must flush this loss quick and prepare for next week’s matchup.

“We better learn,” Rodemaker said. “We’d better learn. It’s getting ready to be make it-take it –– that’s an old saying in basketball. It’s getting ready to be, if you win, you play on. If you lose, you go home. We need to have that mentality the entire time. I’ve got confidence our kids will flush it and we’ll go to work on Monday. We’ll take care of that one next week, we’ll have a week off and we’ll get in these playoffs and do some damage.”

UP NEXT

Valdosta: Wraps up the regular season at Northside.

Lee County: Travels to face Houston County next week.