By Christian Malone
The Valdosta Daily Times
September 10, 2006 02:09 am
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KINGSLAND — Valdosta High has gotten back to its winning ways.
Valdosta defeated Chattahoochee 19-9 Saturday in the South Georgia Classic at Camden County High School.
“It’s good (to win),” Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin said. “We improved on offense and defense from last week. We’re still not where we want to be, but we’re getting there.”
The win was No. 9 Valdosta’s first of the season, and the first win for Tomberlin as Valdosta’s head coach.
“It’s great to be a Valdosta Wildcat,” Tomberlin said. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be coaching than Valdosta.”
The defense held Chattahoochee’s rushing attack in check, then in the second half, Michael Turner and the Valdosta offense took over.
Turner, in his first action at quarterback this season, went 7-for-7 passing for 89 yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 24 yards, all in the second half. More importantly, he drove the Wildcats down the field for two second-half touchdowns.
“We had the ball three times in the second half, and we scored two touchdowns and ran out the clock on the third drive,” Timberline said. “I feel pretty good about that.”
Like most teams who run the wing-T offense, Chattahoochee prefers to run the ball. But Valdosta’s defense made it difficult on them, holding them to 22 yards rushing on 28 carries.
Valdosta broke a scoreless tie when it scored on its first possession of the second quarter. The Wildcats drove 87 yards in eight plays. The drive started with quarterback Alfrie Johnson breaking a 34-yard run. Later, Rashad Austin went 13 yards on a trap and Demetrius James went 20 yards on a toss sweep, helping the Wildcats move the ball into the red zone.
On the eighth play of the drive, on third-and-5, Johnson rolled right and found an open Jamil Chandler out of the backfield. Chandler caught the ball at the 5 and ran untouched into the end zone, giving the Wildcats a 6-0 lead.
Valdosta had another chance to score late in the half, moving the ball to the Cougar 16. But a holding penalty stalled the drive, and VHS wound up turning the ball over on downs. So the score remained 6-0 at halftime.
In the locker room, Tomberlin and his offensive staff, looking for ways to put points on the board, decided to put Turner in at quarterback to see what he could do.
Then Turner took control.
“We’ve got two No. 1 quarterbacks. I’ve said that all along,” Tomberlin said. “Alfrie wasn’t doing bad, but we decided to put Mike in, and see what he can do. We hoped to change the momentum, and I believe Mike did that.”
Turner went in under center on the opening drive of the second half. Immediately, the offense began to march down the field. Turner found Brian Mathis for 16 yards and Tuzer Chism for 15. He took off running for nine yards and a first down. The running lanes opened up, too, and five straight running plays moved the ball to the Cougar 3.
On first-and-goal from the 3, James went left to the outside, and saw a linebacker blocking his path. So he cut back inside, lowered his shoulders, and plowed into the end zone for the touchdown. A two-point conversion pass failed, but Valdosta lead 12-0.
Chattahoochee got on the board with a field goal on the third play of the fourth quarter. The Cougars drove from their own 29 to the Valdosta 17, before the Wildcats’ defense stalled the drive. Jordan Utley kicked a 34-yard field goal, cutting Valdosta’s lead to 12-3.
Then the Wildcats took over again, and put together another long clock-eating drive. Turner’s passing continued to be pinpoint Ń he went 5-of-5 on the drive for 58 yards, with completions to five different receivers, and his 12-yard dash moved the ball into the Cougar red zone.
Valdosta chose to go for it on fourth-and-16 from the 20. Turner threw the ball for Chism in the back of the end zone, and Chism jumped up and caught it between two defenders for the touchdown. Brad Barr’s extra point gave Valdosta a 19-3 lead with 4:13 to play. That touchdown all but wrapped up the victory.
Chattahoochee went to the air, and drove 80 yards for a late score. Cougars quarterback Andrew Matthieson was 5-of-6 passing on the drive for 83 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown pass to Brendan Cross with 2:18 left.
Chattahoochee needed the two-point conversion to cut Valdosta’s lead to eight and have a chance to tie it. But on the two-point play, Derrick Sharper sacked Matthieson, and the score remained 19-9.
James Boyd then recovered the onside kick, and Valdosta ran out the clock for the victory.
James led Valdosta with 71 yards on 17 carries, with a touchdown. Johnson carried six times for 59 yards and threw a touchdown pass, all in the first half.
For Chattahoochee (1-1), Matthieson went 8-for-10 for 111 yards and a touchdown.
Valdosta (1-1) will host state runner-up Brookwood next week.
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