VALDOSTA – The Lowndes High Vikings (4-2) host the Cedar Grove Saints (4-1) in a battle of red-hot defenses Friday night.

Last Friday was Homecoming for Lowndes as the Vikings took on the Alcovy Tigers. Lowndes jumped out to a 34-0 halftime lead and though Alcovy scored a touchdown in the closing minutes of the game, the Vikings rolled to a 34-7 victory.

Thanks to the blowout, the Vikings’ starters were on the bench by the end of the first half, but Vikings quarterback Jacurri Brown still had plenty of time to make his mark. 

In just two quarters of action, Brown threw for 187 yards and four touchdowns with no picks.  The senior Miami commit spread the love around on the touchdown passes too, completing each one to a different member of his receiving corps: Justin Barron, Chase Belcher, Cross Galbraith, and Keylan Hicks.

Brown was able to spend the second half on the sideline, enjoying being a part of the homecoming court. The Vikings’ defense came to play all four quarters though. 

The Vikings surrendered only 69 yards of offense to the Tigers, and 57 of that came on their last offensive play of the game.

The previous week the Vikings blanked crosstown rival Valdosta High in a 21-0 victory in the Winnersville Classic. The intensity the Vikings have been playing with on that side of the ball has impressed Vikings head coach Jamey DuBose over the past two weeks.

“Defensively, we backed up the first shutout with another solid outing Friday,” DuBose said. “I was proud to see them go out and …. basically limit [the Tigers] to nothing in the first half.”

Before facing the Saints this Friday, the Vikings have allowed only seven points combined in their last ten quarters of football going back to the first half of a loss against Lee County on Sept. 10.

The Saints’ defense has been shutting out their recent opponents too. Two of the their last three opponents went home with a goose egg, with last week’s game against Redan being the lone exception.

That game ended in a 47-8 Saints win. With eight points allowed over the Saints’ last three games combined, it’s not surprising that DuBose said this defense could pose one of the toughest tests yet for the Vikings.

“I think the strength of Cedar Grove is their defense,” DuBose said. “It’s going to be a great challenge for our offensive line, who has seen some good groups this year… but this is gonna be one of the best D-lines we face this season.”

That defensive line features three of the top 100 football prospects in Georgia. The middle is manned by a 6-foot-6, 280-pound monster athlete, defensive tackle Christen Miller.

According to 247sports.com, Miller is the 14th ranked high school player in Georgia. His teammate on the end is Carlton Madden, a UGA commit who also plays linebacker and is ranked 24th in the state.

The other big defensive end, Josh White is 45th. All three are seniors and they also are all 6-foot-4 or taller. Madden is the lightest at 240 pounds.

There are plenty gifted athletes on the Saints’ defense who put can put pressure on a quarterback, but Jacurri Brown is at his best when the pocket breaks down and he’s forced off-script.

If the Saints’ blitzes get through a young and still inexperienced Vikings offensive line, DuBose says the quarterback is willing and more than capable of “connecting on some throws on the run and he may have to make some plays with his legs.”

Brown has racked up a team leading 409 rushing yards this season by doing just that: making plays with his legs.

DuBose points to the running game to be a point of emphasis Friday night, not just for Brown but getting talented backs like senior Chase Belcher and sophomore Jacarre Fleming involved is key too.

“We’re going to have to establish some sort of run game first. We won’t be able to just throw the ball all over the place,” DuBose said. “We’ve got to establish the run game Whether it be getting our blocks or giving Jacurri reads in some sort of run.”

It will undoubtedly be tough sledding against the Saints’ defense, however.

“This week is a stiffer challenge. Cedar Grove is a talented team coming in here with a lot of experience,” DuBose said. “They’ve been putting up a lot of points with a really good run game.”

That run game is spearheaded by senior all-purpose back Rashod Dubinion. Ranked the 39th best prospect in the state, the Arkansas commit is accustomed to being the Saints’ go to weapon on offense.

However, but since the starting quarterback for the Saints went down with a leg injury in the second game of the season, the load on the back is as heavy and important to the offense as ever.

The Vikings struggled against the run in earlier in the season, allowing 288 rushing yards to Lake Gibson and 257 against Lee County in back-to-back weeks. Over the first four games of the season the Vikings allowed an average of 225.5 rushing yards per game.

That’s a far cry from the negative yardage that the Vikings held the Tigers to last week however, as well as holding Valdosta to 168 yards on the ground (and only 54 in the air).

The Vikings’ first four opponents all rank higher in the state according to maxpreps.com than the Wildcats or the Tigers do, but the Vikings’ improvement on that side of the ball can be attributed to more than the strength of their opponents.

“Things are slowing down for the defense. They’re processing the schemes and things quicker,” DuBose said. “We had to learn where we had to fit and what we had to do, but things have simplified… and we have a better understanding”

The Vikings’ defense was very young and inexperienced coming into this season, and their growth has been palpable. But the Vikings aren’t playing the ‘Cats or the Tigers on Friday. What matters now is how to handle the Saints. 

“That’s the first key… we have to be able to stop the run game,” DuBose said. “I think if we can shut down the run game this week, I think we’re looking at having another big night defensively.”

The Vikings are at home against the Saints this Friday, Oct. 8 with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m.