’Cats end year with win

By Christian Malone

November 08, 2008 06:47 am

— VALDOSTA — Valdosta High ended its 2008 season with a win, defeating Houston County 17-0 Friday night at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
The Wildcats scored 17 points in the second half, and their defense shut down the Bears’ offense Friday. Houston managed just 93 yards, averaged only 2.5 yards per carry, and never reached the red zone.
“I’m happy for our team, especially our seniors,” Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin said. “We didn’t have a great year; we had a tremendous amount of injuries, and that hurt us. But we’re glad to win this one tonight.”
Valdosta ends the season 5-5, and finishes sixth in Region 1-AAAAA.
Jay Rome had the best game of his young Wildcat career. The 6-foot-6 sophomore tight end caught eight passes for 120 yards and a touchdown, including long catches of 51 and 34 yards, and likely cemented his spot on the All-Region team with Friday night’s game.
“Jay had a great game,” Tomberlin said. “Hopefully that’s one of many great games he’ll have for us.”
The Valdosta offense was like a diesel engine Friday: It took time for it to get going, but once it did, it ran strong. The Wildcats were shut out in the first half, but scored on three of their first four possessions of the second half, and were driving towards another score when the game ended.
“Our offense moved the ball pretty well in the second half. That looked like Wildcat football,” Tomberlin said.
After a scoreless first half, Valdosta put points on the board on its first possession of the second half. A 34-yard completion from Kyle Rowe to Rome and a 12-yard run by VaShun Johnson helped move the Wildcats into the red zone. The drive stalled, but John Mark Stephenson kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Valdosta a 3-0 lead.
Late in the third quarter, facing second-and-14 from its own 49, Valdosta decided to go deep. Wildcat quarterback Kyle Rowe put the ball in the air, and Rome hauled it in on the run, nearly five yards behind the last defender. Rome sprinted untouched down the middle of the field into the end zone for the touchdown, giving the Wildcats a 10-0 lead.
That was the final pass of Rowe’s career — and a great way for the senior quarterback to depart.
The Wildcats scored again on their next possession, all but putting the game away with a 12-play, 75-yard drive, with all off the yardage coming on the ground. VaShun Johnson had runs of 12 and 22 yards on back-to-back plays, moving the Wildcats into Bears territory.
Seven plays later, on second-and-goal from the 7, Phillip Moore took the handoff and went right. Moore cut inside the right tackle, got by a defender, then crossed the goal line right before being taken down. Moore’s touchdown gave the Wildcats a 17-0 lead with 5:19 left in the game.
Houston responded with its best drive of the day, moving the ball down to the Valdosta 23. But then Odell James picked off Jeff Thompson’s pass, and helped keep the Wildcats’ shutout intact.
On the ensuing possession, senior Tim Kier broke off runs of 22 and 49 yards, and helped Valdosta moved the ball to the Bear 13. But with the victory already clinched, the Wildcats chose to run out the clock.
In the first half, the teams battled to a scoreless tie. Each team had the ball in opposing territory at some point in the half, but could not put points on the board. Houston drove inside the Valdosta 30 on their first two possessions, but both times, the Wildcat defense drove the Bears back and forced them to punt. Valdosta had the ball inside the Houston 40 on its last two drives of the half, but couldn’t manage any points.
But in the second half, the Wildcats found their offense, and walked away with the victory.
For Valdosta, Rowe completed 12-of-17 passes for 113 yards. Johnson, another senior, rushed for 89 yards on 14 carries, while Kier gained 73 yards on eight carries. The Wildcats rushed for 202 yards in the win, while their defense held Houston to just four yards rushing in the second half.

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