HAHIRA — The Valwood Valiants welcomed the new look Lanier County Bulldogs to Goddard Field on Friday for the Valiants’ first of two preseason scrimmages.

The Valiants are coming off an 11-1 season that concluded with a state championship win over the John Milledge Academy Trojans, ending the 62 game win streak for the Trojans. Lanier County, coming off of a school-record 7-3 season, entered the game with high hopes with new head coach David Dean leading the Bulldogs.

The varsity for both teams played the first three quarters, with the JV/B-teams playing the final quarter. Valwood won these by a combined 38-14 score.

Early in the first quarter, the Valiants fell down quick, going down 7-0 after a 21-yard rush at the 10:43 mark.

Valwood looked to answer back on their first drive, moving the ball on the Bulldog defense with Tayt Snellgrove connecting with Cort Kurrie for 21 yards and Triston White for 15. With 8:21 left in the first, the Valiants would be faced with a fourth-and-two decision.

Coach Brad Wells elected to keep the offense on the field, allowing Snellgrove to use his legs to pick up the first down on a 16 yard rush. After a seven-yard rush from Braylon Neal on the next play, Snellgrove added another 10 yards on the ground, moving the chains again for the Valiants. After moving the ball to the Bulldogs’ 3 yard line, a declined holding call set the Valwood offense back to the 13 after White was tackled in the backfield.

After an incomplete pass on third & 13, the Valiants walked away from the long drive with three points after a Wyatt Wolford field goal with 5:29 left in the first.

With the Bulldogs In Valiants territory late in the first quarter, Andrew Blecher intercepted the Lanier County quarterback on fourth down, giving the Valwood offense the ball with 1:24 left in the opening quarter. With 40.1 seconds left, Snellgrove picked up a third down on the ground, adding another 11 yards to his rushing total. To end the first quarter, White moved the ball into Lanier County territory after a 16-yard rush to end the quarter.

Down 7-3 in the second quarter, the Valiants moved to the Bulldogs’ 15-yard line after a Snellgrove pass to Dywan Powell picked up 30 yards. Four plays later, the Valiants took their first lead of the night after a Braylon Neal five-yard touchdown to put Valwood up 10-7 with 9:13 to go in the half. After allowing 13 yards early on the next Bulldogs drive, the Valiants defense got off the field after forcing a total of (-26) yards in losses over the next four plays.

With 4:32 left in the half, the Valiants pushed their lead to 17-7 after a 13-yard passing touchdown from Snellgrove to White. The Valiants defense again would get off the field early, this time forcing a three-and-out after the Bulldogs’ QB was brought down by Grant Moss. Like the Bulldogs, the Valiants offense would not be able to pick up the first down, going three-and-out with less than a minute to play in the half. After a one-yard rush by the Bulldogs’ QB, the Valiants took a 17-7 lead into halftime.

After stalling on their last drive to end the half, the Valwood offense looked to continue adding on to their lead. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs’ defense intercepted Snellgrove, setting up an escort and scoring on the first play of the half. After a three-yard rush from White to start the next Valiants’ drive, Valwood stalled on the next two plays, punting the ball back to the Bulldogs. A second-down pressure from Jackson Johnson forced a four-yard loss and Valwood defense forced another punt two plays later.

Taking over on their own 24-yard line, the Valiants offense found a spark after a 4-yard pass from Snellgrove to Powell. After a two-yard rush from White with 7:24 left to play in the third, the Valiants were faced with a third-and-four.

Over the next 3 plays, Snellgrove racked up 54 yards rushing on QB keepers, setting up the Valiants offense up at the Bulldogs’ 16 with 5:50 to go in the third. After a pair of 8-yard rushes from White and Neal, the Valiants were set up at the Lanier 1 yard line. With 5:02 to go in the third, Neal scored his second rushing touchdown of the night, pushing the Valiants lead to 24-14.

A penalty on the next Bulldog drive gave them a first down, but the Valiants only surrendered five yards over the next three plays. On fourth-and-five, the Bulldogs’ running back looked to score after breaking multiple tackles, but turned the ball over after a forced fumble by Hudson Paylo with 2:40 to go in the third.

To close out the quarter, the Valwood offense kept the ball on the ground, moving the ball into Lanier County territory after a 30-yard rush by Triston White with less than 30 seconds to go. After Braylon Neal was stuffed for 0 yards, the Valiants ended the quarter up 24-14, winning the Varsity portion of the scrimmage.

To start the fourth quarter, the Valiants were set up at the Bulldogs 1-yard line after a 30-yard pass from Asher Wells to Greyson Bailey. On the next play, Wells pushed the Valiants lead to 31-14 after scoring on the ground. Allowing only 6 yards on the Lanier County drive, the Valiants defense would force a 3-and-out after a pressure from Deonte Henley & Asher Wells on third down.

On the next Valiants’ drive, Kamari Jackson moved the offense into Bulldog territory after rushes for 18 and 12. After the offense lost three yards on the next two plays, Jackson burst through the Valiants defense for 20 yards, setting the offense up at the Lanier County 18.

Following an 8-yard rush by Wells and 4-yard rush by Jackson, the Valiants offense were set up within the 6 yard line. After a Wells pass to Mason Corbett gained five, Wells would score his second rushing touchdown of the night, putting the Valiants up 38-14 with 4:12 to play. On the final drive of the game, the Bulldogs would run the clock out.