Wayne Grandy
The Moultrie Observer
MOULTRIE —
MOULTRIE — Lowndes will be back in comfortable surroundings on Friday when it plays host to Tallahassee’s Lion High and tries to bounce back from a late loss to McEachern.
The Vikings fell 23-22 to the Indians in Powder Springs on Friday when McEachern quarterback Dondre Purnell scored a touchdown on a 9-yard run with 3 seconds remaining.
The loss was the fourth in a row on the road for the Vikings, who also fell at Camden County and at Northside-Warner Robins last year and Grayson in Loganville in 2008.
At home, however, Lowndes has 26 straight and the Vikings will entertain the Lions at Martin Stadium on Friday.
The Lions, coached by former Colquitt County defensive coordinator Bill Ragans, will take a 1-0 record into the game. Leon opened with a 26-7 victory over Godby last Friday.
McEachern drove 81 yards in the final 2:13 to score the winning touchdown last Friday after Lowndes had taken had taken the lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by Sam Duncan.
Lowndes scored its other touchdowns on Troy Braswell's 1-yard run and Cole Parker's 20-yard pass to Josh Clemons and Sam Duncan's 5-yard run.
Duncan led the Vikings with 92 yards on 14 carries. Troy Braswell added 56 yards on 15 carries.
The loss was just the fifth for the Vikings since the start of the 2007 season.
Lowndes went into the game ranked No. 2 in Class AAAAA in The Associated Press poll, but fell to No. 7 this week.
Stephenson at Tift County: Tift County has won two straight since dropping its opener at Fitzgerald and the turnaround has come since the Blue Devils staff installed freshman Tadric Jackson at quarterback.
Jackson has helped engineer victories over Locust Grove and Shiloh the last two Friday nights, but Stephenson will present a much more difficult challenge.
Stephenson is 2-0, with its last loss coming in the second round of the state tournament last year by a 22-21 score to Colquitt County. It was the only loss of 2009 for the Jaguars.
Last week, the Jaguars defeated Class AAA Cedar Grove 24-18, breaking open a 7-7 halftime game with a 17-point third quarter.
Willie Davis ran for two touchdowns and Mike Davis ran for another for the Jaguars, who are ranked No. 6 in The Associated Press poll.
Lincoln (Tallahassee) at Valdosta: The Trojans lost their opener 24-14 to Niceville and must travel to Bazemore-Hyder Stadium to meet an undefeated Valdosta team that has not allowed a point in its first two games.
Last Friday, the Wildcats blanked Hardaway 36-0 with Ryan Whilden completing 14-of-29 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
Valdosta also got touchdowns from Randy Cook on an interception, Charone Gatlin on a punt return and Reggie McQueen on a fumble recovery.
Coffee at Appling County: The Trojans ended an eight-game losing streak when it pounded Class AAA Locust Grove 40-0 last Friday.
Coffee had dropped its last six games in 2009 and had fallen at Brunswick and at Ware County before returning to Jardine Stadium to get it first victory of the season.
Coffee scored quickly when El Carswell returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown.
Quarterback Will Gardner completed 7-of-13 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
But the Trojans must go back out on the road on Friday and travel to Baxley to play Coach Jimmy Swain’s Region 2-AA Pirates.
Appling County was 10-2 last year and is 19-4 over the last two seasons.
The Pirates will take a 1-1 record into Friday’s game. After defeating Dodge County 18-17, Appling was shut out 22-0 by Wayne County last Friday.
In other games featuring teams on Colquitt County schedule, 2-0 Thomas County Central will visit 2-0 Cairo on Friday. Both teams are coming off emotional non-region victories.
The Yellow Jacket defeated Colquitt County 35-29 in overtime and the Syrupmakers blanked Bainbridge 14-0.
Cook, with wins over Colquitt County and Americus-Sumter, will travel to Sylvester to play 2-0 Worth County, which has defeated Fitzgerald and Turner County to open the season.
South Panola, 3-0 and outscoring its opponents by a combined 142-37, will play its first home game on Friday against Clarksdale.
The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in one national poll, gave up 35 of their 39 points against Colquitt County.
They surrendered just a safety while ending Memphis University School’s 28-game winning streak last Friday.
Carver High of Montgomery, Ala., will take its 2-0 record to the Cramton Bowl tonight to play Stanhope Elmore.
Warner Robins, 0-2, is off this weekend.
PACKERS NOTES: Free safety Ronnie Caldwell was the Packers leading tackler against Thomas County Central last Friday with six solo hits and 10 assists for 16 tackles.
Rover Payne Newsome had three tackles and nine assists for 12 tackles.
Former Packer R.J. Taylor, now a redshirt freshman playing at Henderson State, is listed a the backup at left guard. ...
B.J. Baker, another former Packer offensive lineman, will make his 19th career start for Charleston Southern on Saturday when the Bucs play host to Wofford. The 6-foot-5, 298-pound Baker will start at right guard.
