VALDOSTA –– Two weeks after its first –– and most painful –– loss of the season, No. 4 Valdosta (5-1) begins region play tonight at home against the No. 9-ranked Houston County Bears (4-2).

The Wildcats had a bye week to recover from a 24-0 loss to crosstown rival Lowndes in the Winnersville Classic on Sept. 27.

Testing itself against an elite Lowndes defense, Valdosta’s offense came up empty against the Vikings –– posting a season-low 151 yards of total offense and allowing senior quarterback Tate Rodemaker to be sacked five times.

Going into the Classic, Valdosta head coach Alan Rodemaker called Lowndes “the best team we’ll play all year”. After having two weeks to process the loss, Rodemaker was still complimentary of the Region 1-7A No. 1 Vikings. Rodemaker even spoke briefly about the Vikings’ chances against mutual rival Colquitt County, whom the Vikings will play in their regular season finale on Nov. 1. The ‘Cats defeated the Packers 50-49 back on Sept. 13.

“They’re not bad –– I don’t know if they’re the best team in the state, but who is?” Rodemaker said laughing. “They’re the best team we’ve played and I don’t know if they have the ability to score the way that Colquitt does, so that’s going to be an interesting matchup.”

The ‘Cats face a Bears team that is hard to read by its record. The Bears jumped out to a 4-0 started that saw them average nearly 39 points per game in wins against Perry, Central, Rutland and Peach County –– non-region teams with a combined record of 9-14.

However, the Bears are on a two-game losing streak following losses to Veterans and Warner Robins. In the two losses, the Bears have managed a total of 16 points as Veterans and Warner Robins are a combined 10-2 on the season.

On paper, Max Rigby versus Tate Rodemaker will be a marquee matchup between to two of the top quarterbacks in Class 6A.

Rigby leads Region 1-6A in completions (102) and ranks second in passing yards (1,286) and is tied for third in touchdowns with 10. Despite going without a touchdown pass for the first time all season against Lowndes, Rodemaker still leads Region 1-6A in touchdown passes (18) and passing yards (1,299) while ranking just behind Rigby in pass completions with 95.

With the loss of star receiver Jaheim Bell, the ‘Cats are different offensively but still highly potent, led by breakout junior receiver Javonte Sherman. Sherman leads the team with 21 catches for 362 yards and a team-best six touchdowns. Flanking Sherman is senior Tarrell Roberts, who is second on the team in catches with 19 and touchdowns with four.

“To me, Houston…this is their year,” Rodemaker said. “They had a bunch of sophomore guys that started for them two years ago and their quarterback, Max Rigby, he and Tate were sophomores then and he threw it around really good and I think they’ve both kind of grown up together now. They’re both right at the top of the region as far as passing is concerned.

“Rigby’s got good wide outs to throw to –– he’s got four or five good wide outs to throw to. He’s got a couple good running backs too. … I think Houston’s been a little hard to predict offensively. They’ve had some games they’ve played really well –– basically every game except for the second half against Warner Robins and the game against Veterans, they had some big plays and had some touchdowns called back and had some turnovers that really cost them. But the win against Peach was legit. Beating Peach in overtime was a big win because Peach has got a really good team.”

As Coach Rodemaker alluded to, the weaponry that Rigby has at his disposal will provide a formidable task for a Valdosta defense that has emerged as one of the most improved units in the region. 

The Bears’ receiving corps features leading pass-catcher Isaiah Harris, Leeshoen Jarrett and Kyah Plummer. The trio has combined for 62 catches, 840 yards and eight touchdowns on the season.

“We’re preparing for the best of Houston County. And we’re a little bit like that too,” Rodemaker said. “We didn’t do anything offensively against Lowndes but other than that, I think we’ve been pretty consistent. We’ve had a couple games we didn’t play great defensively –– Colquitt and Columbia –– but offensively, we’ve been on point except for our last week and a lot of that has to do with Lowndes. Lowndes is pretty dang good on defense. It’s an interesting matchup (against Houston). I think it’s the most important game we’ll play thus far for us because it’s the first region game. It’s gonna be a big game (tonight).”

Valdosta’s remaining schedule features two home games and two road games beginning with the Bears coming to town tonight for an 8 p.m. kickoff. From there, Valdosta makes its first true road trip of the season Oct. 18 against Coffee before hosting two-time defending Class 6A state champion Lee County on Oct. 25 and wrapping up its regular season on Nov. 1 at Northside.

But for tonight, the region opener for the ‘Cats is the only game that matters. 

“To me, it’s THE season,” Rodemaker said of region play. “I scheduled some tough non-region opponents to help us get to our region. And our region really prepares us for the state playoffs. I’m not saying we’ve conquered the first six games, but we’ve had to play some good folks and hopefully that’ll show that we’re prepared tomorrow night. Our region is so good that if you can get to the playoffs, then you’re ready to go. This part of the season is the only season that counts. Our kids need to understand that (tonight’s) game is way more important than any game we’ve played. It’s the biggest game of the year.”