VALDOSTA — After just one season, Zach Grage is out as the head football coach at Lowndes High.

The Lowndes County school system made the announcement early Tuesday.

Defensive coordinator Ashley Anders, who, like Grage, is a former Colquitt County assistant coach and was previously the head coach at Tift County, has been named the interim head coach.

A statement from the Lowndes County athletic department reads:

“The Lowndes County Schools Athletic Department has decided to move in another direction in the leadership of the football program.

“Dr. Shawn Haralson has made the decision to relieve Zach Grage of his head football coach/director of football operations duties.

“This decision was made after a complete and thorough review of the football program and after discussing with system administrators at all levels. The decision is effective immediately.

‘“This was an extremely hard decision and not one entered into lightly or without a lot of thought,’ said Dr. Haralson. ‘When I accepted this job I promised the community all my decisions would be made on what is best for the boys and girls of this school system. This is a decision that had to be made in the best interest of our school, team, and students.’

“‘While we will always strive to be the best and win all games at Lowndes, this is about more than wins and losses. Without going into detail, many aspects must be considered as decisions are made that impact every facet of the school system. We wish Coach Grage the best in his future endeavors.’”

Grage was named earlier this year to replace Jamey DuBose, who left after going 20-5 over the two previous seasons.

Lowndes was 5-6 this season, qualifying for the playoffs as the No. 4 seed from Region 1-7A after posting a 1-3 region record.

The Vikings dropped their playoff opener to Carrollton 38-14 last Saturday.

Grage spent the last six years at Thomasville, where he posted a 54-23 record and led the Bulldogs to the Class AA state championship game last year. He also coached one year at Gilmer County.

In eight seasons as a head coach, Grage has an overall head coaching record of 63-36.

He won three region championships at Thomasville and led the Bulldogs to a 13-2 record last year.

Grage was on the Colquitt County staff from 2009-2014, coaching the ninth-grade team, the running backs and the quarterbacks. He also served as the strength and conditioning coordinator in 2014 when the Packers went 15-0 and won a state championship.

He left after the 2014 season to take the head coaching job at Gilmer County.