Lowndes, Valdosta, Richmond Hill fall short in Region 1-7A games

Published 6:40 pm Sunday, September 24, 2023

MOULTRIE — It was not a good Friday night for Region 1-7A football.

Undefeated and No. 2-ranked Colquitt County survived Cedar Grove to win 50-48, but Lowndes and Richmond Hill were shut out and Valdosta managed just one score in a loss to McEachern.

Only Camden County won big, defeating Atlantic Coast High from Jacksonville, Fla., 47-7.

• Perhaps most surprising was Lowndes’ 40-0 loss to Grayson, the team led last season by current Vikings head coach Adam Carter.

The Rams scored 33 first-half points and the second half was played with a running clock at Grayson Community Stadium.

The shutout was the third in the last four games for Grayson, now 4-1.

Rams senior quarterback J.D. Davis completed 21-of-25 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a score.

Lowndes punted nine times and turned the ball over twice.

The Vikings, now 3-2, will be off this week and will open region play on Oct. 6, at Valdosta in the annual Winnersville Classic.

• Valdosta, which had been ranked No. 9 in Class 7A, also will go into that game coming off a loss after falling 28-7 at McEachern.

The Wildcats took a 4-1 record into the game, but were shut out in the second half by the Indians, who won their second straight game after opening the season with four straight losses.

The meeting was the seventh between Valdosta and McEachern and the Wildcats had won the previous six.

Valdosta had 228 yards of offense in the first half, but produced only a 9-yard run by Prince Jean with 1:05 left.

The game was tied 7-7 at the break, but only the Indians scored in the final two quarters.

Valdosta rolled up 436 yards of offense, including 231 rushing and 205 passing, but managed just the one score.

Wildcats quarterback Todd Robinson completed 10-of-18 passes for 195 yards.

• Richmond Hill completed the non-region portion of its schedule by being blanked 21-0 at home by Coffee.

Richmond Hill quarterback Kirk Scott completed just 2-of-12 passes for 10 yards and leading rusher Nick Bliss carried three times for 33 yards but could not score.

Richmond Hill, now 4-2, will open region play on Oct. 6, at Camden County.

• Atlantic Coast drove to the Camden County 10-yard line on its opening possession before being stopped.

Jaden Dailey ran 90 yards from there for Camden’s first score in what quickly became a rout. Camden led 27-0 at the half.

The three Camden second-half scores included a 82-yard touchdown run by DeNigel Cooper.

• Colquitt County will be the only region team in action on Friday when the Packers entertain Lincoln High of Tallahassee for the second year at Homecoming.

Lincoln will bring a 4-0 record to Moultrie, where they lost 30-7 last year.

The Trojans scored their only touchdown in that game in the first quarter and the Colquitt defense stifled them the rest of the way.

Colquitt quarterback Neko Fann was 13-for-25 yards and a touchdown pass to Landen Thomas, who also had a 2-yard touchdown run. Thomas had four catches in the game and Zay Williams and Markese Wilson each had three.

Charlie Pace carried 15 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Lincoln finished 5-6 last year, but has won Class 4A state championships in 1999, 2001 and 2012.

This season, the Trojans have defeated Pace 21-7; Niceville 28-14; St. Paul II of Tallahassee 16-0; and, last Thursday, Munroe Day School of Havana 42-0.

Of this and that:

• Former Packer Daijun Edwards continues to be productive for the University of Georgia football team.

A week after rushing for 118 yards and a touchdown in the Bulldogs comeback win over South Carolina, Edwards started at tailback again against UAB and carried 12 times for 66 yards and two scores.

The two-time defending national champion and 4-0 Bulldogs will open SEC play at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday at Auburn.

• In Florida State’s 31-24 ACC overtime victory over Clemson last Saturday, Ryan Fitzgerald connected on a 48-yard game-tying field goal and converted after all four Seminoles touchdowns.

The Seminoles, now 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, will play next on Oct. 7, when Virginia Tech visits.

• Orion Bonner caught three passes, including two for touchdowns of 3 and 30 yards, in Glenville (W.Va.) State’s 31-21 loss to West Virginia State.

Now 2-1, the Pioneers will be home to face the University of Charleston on Saturday.

• Steven Krajewski was named Wagner College’s offensive most valuable player in the Skyhawks’ 30-27 victory over Merrimack College. Krajewski completed 14-of-26 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a pair of scores.

His 21-yard touchdown pass with 4:15 remaining put Wagner ahead to stay.

The Skyhawks will travel to play Rutgers on Saturday.