VALDOSTA — The good news for Valdosta High: tonight’s opponent is 0-2.

The bad news: that 0-2 team is state power Brookwood — and that record is very deceiving.

“They’re the best 0-2 team in the state. There’s no doubt in my mind,” Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin said. “They’re 0-2, but I still think they’re one of the five best teams in AAAAA right now. They’re going to be tough.”

Brookwood comes south tonight to face to Valdosta in a matchup of two of Class AAAAA’s elite programs. Kickoff at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium comes at 8 p.m.

The game was scheduled for Saturday to accommodate the Broncos on a road trip that will be over four hours.

The Broncos lost their season opener to No. 2 Camden County 21-17, in a game where Brookwood may have outplayed its opponent, but still lost after a couple of big plays by Camden. Then last week, Brookwood fell to North Gwinnett, which is No. 5 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s state poll, 10-3.

But Brookwood played those games without some key players, including quarterback Daniel Peek, who was suspended the first two games for a violation of team rules. Peek is an athletic quarterback with excellent speed who could really be a difference-maker for the Broncos. He adds a dimension that the Broncos didn’t have against Camden and North Gwinnett.

Even without Peek, Brookwood looked impressive to Valdosta’s coaches.

“They’re a real good football team,” Tomberlin said. “They’ve got a dominant defense that’s going to be hard to run against. Their defense only allowed Camden’s offense to gain just four first downs all game. And they run the ball pretty well. They’ve got those big offensive linemen that they like to run behind.”

And, lest anyone forget, Brookwood was the state runner-up last year, losing 49-7 to Lowndes in the finals, on its last trip to Winnersville.

Brookwood’s top offensive threat so far has been tailback Demetre Ledlum, who has rushed for 243 yards on 64 carries so far. He should get plenty of touches again tonight.

Brookwood’s defense is led by possibly the best linebacker in the state, senior Rennie Curran. Curran, a 205-pound middle linebacker with 4.55 speed, made 198 tackles last season for the Broncos on his way to an All-State selection. In two games this season, he has made 29 tackles and sacked the quarterback twice. He has already committed to play for Georgia.

“He’s a great linebacker,” Tomberlin said. “He runs real well, and gets to the ball real quick. He makes a lot of tackles. He makes it hard to run the ball.”

Brookwood’s other two linebackers, Joe Moore and David Kelley, are also college prospects, making the Broncos’ linebacker corps possibly the best in the state.

It will be up to Valdosta to find a way to move the ball and put points on the board tonight against that tough defense.