HAHIRA –– The Valwood Valiants and Georgia Christian Generals locked horns Friday, with the Valiants secured the victory handily, 51-8. 

For the Generals, newcomer Kelby “Waco” Turner led the way rushing with 45 yards on six carries, with another 45 yards in the return game.

On a hot South Georgia night, both teams had a slow start to the game. Newcomer Buster Galindo opened the game with a squib kick that setup the Valiants in good field position, but the Generals’ defense stood tall and forced a quick three and out, seeing Dante Sacco earning the first sack of the year for the Generals. 

The Valiants proved they were no pushover on defense either, as they forced a three-and-out on their own. But that first drive is where the big stage may have been overshadowing at first for the Generals. With a holding call on the first play from scrimmage, the Generals could not dig themselves out of that hole, having three plays go for a combined loss of five yards. Galindo fumbled the snap for the punt, and Valwood made a great play to tackle him inside the five-yard line, back at the four. The ensuing play was a quick punch in the end zone for a four-yard touchdown.

After a short return from Turner, the Generals set back up on offense, but again could not generate much on the offensive side of the ball. A bad snap on fourth down led to a fourteen-yard punt by Galindo, who was just able to get it off with the defense rushing in. 

Miguel Trejo was able to get his first tackle of the year on the next Valiant drive. 

“That was my first tackle of my life,” Trejo said. “I have never played football before and I just came out for the team last week. Because it was so hot out, we were unable to practice with pads, so I had no idea how it would feel. It is different for sure coming over from basketball and never playing football, but I enjoyed making my first tackle.”

After the short punt, Valwood was again able to punch it in, going up on the Generals 14-0. 

On the ensuing possession, GCS was able to finally get some momentum going. Sacco took the carry on the first play of the drive for an eight-yard gain. After an incomplete pass that was dropped by Turner, he made perhaps the play of the night for the Generals. 

Turner more than made up for his miscue on the previous play. He took a handoff to the right, saw a swarm of Valiants and reversed his field. He put a move on one defender, then outran another before running out of gas after an official 30-yard gain, but likely ran for at least 50 on the play. 

It may have been all for naught, with a dropped pass, a holding penalty and an incompletion, the Generals once again had to punt. 

Another bad snap led to another rushed punt, but this time it had a bit more distance and Galindo was able to get about 25 yards on the boot. 

After a Valwood penalty, they were backed up into first and twenty. John Lissimore got his first tackle of the year on the drive and Trejo made a play in coverage to force a third and thirteen, but the Generals jumped offsides again to set the Valiants up with a better looking down of third and eight, but the Valiants could not complete a third down pass. 

Another Generals’ drive resulted in a three and out and they lined up to punt, but had the punt blocked, which resulted in a scoop and score and put Valwood up 21-0. 

The next drive for the Generals resulted in a low snap and an incomplete pass, a holding penalty and a Copeland fumble that was lost. Valwood took over and drove all the way to the five-yard line before a bad hand-off was fumbled and recovered by the Generals at the 10-yard line. After a six-yard loss by Turner and a Thomas Dowdy drop, Copeland was sacked for a safety to make it 23-0. 

The Generals forced another quick three and out to get back on offense. After a good run by Sacco that ended with a Valwood personal foul, the Generals were marching. Copeland ripped off a 15-yard run where he escaped a sack, ran over two defenders, put a move on and broke another tackle before finally being tackled. He then hit Sacco on a 9-yard pass that saw him break several tackles. But a pair of Valwood sacks and a strip fumble gave the Valiants the ball back around midfield. 

The ensuing possession saw Valwood driving down the field, but GCS was not making it easy for them. Casey Crowder and Sacco both made tackles on back to back plays and Trejo got a sack, but the defense did jump offsides again. A couple of plays later, Valwood scored another touchdown to make it 30-0 and Valwood would take that lead into halftime. 

“I think we are playing well. The defense has been doing a great job for us and outside of the mistakes on offense, we have not given up much on defense,” Knapp said. “Physically, this team is there. We are right there with them most plays, we just have to get over that mental hump. This is the best team we will see all year and I feel like we are handling it well.”

Coming out of half, GCS had another quick three and out. The next Valwood possession saw Trejo make yet another tackle, but Valwood would score again to go up 37-0. 

A couple drives later, Copeland found a wide-open Mason Finney for a 41-yard touchdown pass. Grimes would run in the two-point conversion. The next drive saw several big pays made on defense. Finney made a tackle on first down for no gain. Then on second down, Grimes teamed with Trejo to stop the Valiants after a first down play. After a pass interference call on GCS, Lissmore answered with a tackle in the backfield and Tyler Reed follows suit the next play. 

After the punt, GCS offensive woes continued as there was a holding call, two drops and a bad snap that led to a punt. Three plays later, Valwood put the final stamp on the game with the 43-point victory.

The Generals showed some flash and promise, despite the heavy number of mistakes. Copeland, Sacco and Turner make a great three-headed monster when running the ball. Trejo really has a nose for the ball on defense, and that may run in the family, as his cousin is former Generals standout Ricky Trejo. The defense stood tall on several occasions and showed they were a cohesive unit that can swarm to the ball.

“This was a much bigger stage than any of these guys have ever been on,” Knapp said. “It was a learning experience. We were able to see our guys and what we look like in a game. We have some mental errors that we need to work on, but I saw a lot of good out of this team. Guys continued to play hard and fight. We got to see where we stand and how we can move forward.”

UP NEXT

Georgia Christian is off next Friday, but will travel to Griffin, Ga. to face off against Skipstone Academy on Sept. 18 at 7:30.