VALDOSTA – Fresh off of winning a state championship in the 4×100 relay last weekend, Jacarre “Smoke” Fleming wasted no time dominating on the football field.

Lowndes’ explosive junior running back had seven carries for 75 yards with four touchdowns in the Vikings’ 45-0 rout of Tift County in Friday’s spring game.

“You talk about an unbelievable kid. He’s been playing football for four days; he just came off the state track meet,” Lowndes head coach Zach Grage said of Fleming. “We had a bunch of players involved with the baseball team that just made their quarterfinal run and we had a bunch of guys involved in the track team. There were a few of them that even though we told them to stay home and rest up for their games – Jacarre being one of them. That joker still came out in a helmet. He didn’t have full pads on, but he was in a helmet and said, ‘Coach, I’m practicing.’

“I would kick him off, kick him off – ‘Coach, I’m practicing.’ I’ve told the college coaches and some of his teammates, he loves football. He loves being out here. He loves his teammates. He just loves to play. I was very proud that he was able to show that tonight.”

Fleming scored three touchdowns in the first quarter alone. On the second play of the game, Fleming busted a 60-yard touchdown run then less than 2 minutes later, Fleming found the end zone again on a 6-yard score.

No. 2 running back Aalim Brown got in on the act late in the first quarter, finding a hole in the Tift defense and cruising 66 yards to the end zone to give the Vikings 28 first-quarter points.

Leading 38-0 at the half, Fleming put the finishing touches on the night midway through the third quarter for the Lowndes varsity.

A 53-yard fumble return by Jayden Battle brought the Vikings all the way down to the Blue Devils’ 4-yard line. Fleming promptly sauntered into the end zone to push the lead to 45-0 over their former region foes.

Overall, the Vikings recorded 309 yards of total offense on 43 plays – an average of 7.2 yards per play, with 254 coming on the ground.

“I think a lot of it was we were extremely simple,” Grage said. “If you look at the play card, there wasn’t many plays to choose from but it was all about charting a lot of touches. We wanted to make sure that Jacarre touched the ball, that all three of our quarterbacks had opportunities because we’re in a full-on competition as we head into next season – just getting the playmakers the ball, which has kind of been our thing.”

CURTAIN CALL

With Fleming and the Vikings’ offense roaring, the defense held up its end of the bargain as well.

Maligned much of last season, the Vikings were aggressive at the point of attack – pressuring the Blue Devils early and often.

The Concrete Curtain forced four fumbles and recovered three of them; each takeaway leading to points for the offense. In all, the Vikings held the Blue Devils to just 86 yards of offense Friday night.

Battle led the defense with five solo tackles with one tackle for loss in the game.

“They were extremely aggressive,” Grage said. “We had 10 days in pads for the spring, so they understood the urgency we had to attack this thing with. If you watched us the first two days of practice, you did not see physicality. We had a long way to go. We’ll look at the film. I’m sure we misfit some things and missed some tackles, but dang we were hitting. 

“It was kind of the Lowndes of old. It was that south Georgia mentality. Those were not turnovers. Those were takeaways. Those were plays that we made happen, our kids made happen because they were striking folks and they fed off of each other with that. That was what I was most proud to see with that defensive approach.”

MAY THE BEST MAN WIN

After the game, Grage revealed there is an open competition ongoing for the starting quarterback job.

Tate Sirmans, who just finished playing for the Vikings’ baseball team last week, got the start in Friday’s spring game – completing two of his three passes for 20 yards, but had three carries for 85 yards including a 76-yard scamper for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Sirmans split time with upcoming junior Brooks Best and upcoming sophomore Marvis Parrish on several series through three quarters. Best went 4 of 5 for 21 yards, while Parrish completed 4 of 5 passes for 14 yards.

“Tate didn’t play last week. We didn’t think he was quite ready scheme-wise with the Soapbox scrimmage coming off of baseball,” Grage said. “Brooks played well. Marvis played well. I brought them into my office beforehand and told them all, ‘From here till August 5th, it is a three-man competition. You’re gonna get even reps and we’re gonna chart the reps.’

“I think all of them are playing well. I think each of them brings a different skill set. but I think that Coach (Shawn) Sutton and his staff has done a really good job of simplifying things. Our goal coming out of this spring was to learn how to practice. I’m very pleased with that. I’m excited to see (who wins). There’s nothing better than competition now. Those three kids are gonna battle it out and the best part is, the two that don’t win it, I believe you’ll see them somewhere else on the field. All three of them are great athletes and great kids.”

BRING ON THE SUMMER

With the spring schedule complete, Grage and the Vikings will now turn their attention to summer workouts and additional preparation for the 2022 season.

After 10 days of spring camp, Grage is excited about what he’s seen thus far but even more optimistic about what lies ahead.

“I love them already,” Grage said when asked his assessment of the team after spring practice. “They love football. They’ve come in and they’ve adjusted. They’re very receptive to change and it’s tough now when you’re talking about high school guys that just went 10-3 last year and were successful. When you come in and try to change things, it’s really easy to sit back and go, ‘Why are we doing this? We were successful doing what we did before.’

“We’ve got a great group of young men. I’m excited to get to work with them in the summertime. The past 10 days have been awesome. It’s been tough, it’s been tiring, but they make it better because you look forward to coming to work everyday.”

Shane Thomas is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.