Wildcats win 21-17 thriller

By Christian Malone

September 22, 2007 04:45 am

— VALDOSTA — A year ago, Lincoln scored to beat Valdosta in the final minute. The Wildcats refused to let that happen again Friday.
David Arnold’s 7-yard touchdown catch with 2:37 remaining gave Valdosta the lead, and the VHS defense made a big defensive stand in the final seconds to help the Wildcats come away with a 21-17 victory Friday night at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
Friday’s game looked eerily similar to last year’s Valdosta-Lincoln game. Lincoln took a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Valdosta rallied for two touchdowns, and took the lead with around two-and-a-half minutes to play. Lincoln had the ball in Valdosta territory in the final minute.
But there was one difference. This time, Valdosta’s defense stopped the Trojans on their final drive.
Valdosta took a 21-17 lead with a 10-play drive that consumed over five minutes of clock. Arnold got the ball on the first five plays of the drive, and on eight of the 10 plays. His runs helped the Wildcats drive to the 20.
On second-and-12 from the 22, quarterback Michael Turner faked the handoff, rolled right, took off, then stopped and threw a touchdown pass to Marcus McNair. But Turner was past the line of scrimmage when it threw it, and the touchdown didn’t count. On the next play, third-and-12, Turner’s pass fell incomplete, but Lincoln was flagged for pass interference, giving the Wildcats an automatic first down.
Three plays later, Valdosta faced third-and-goal from the 7. Turner dropped back, let the defense come after him, then lofted a screen pass to Arnold. Arnold got the blocks, and raced into the end zone for the score.
But Lincoln still had 2:37 left, which gave them plenty of time to come back. A year ago, Lincoln star quarterback B.J. Daniels had driven the Trojans to the winning score in a similar situation. This time, Daniels again led the Trojans into Valdosta territory with a couple of big passes for first down, including a fourth-down completion to Jawanza Starling.
Facing third down, Lincoln coach Kyle Rice called a halfback pass. D’vonte Graham went left, turned, and tried to throw back to Daniels. But the defense read the play, and tackled him for a 12-yard loss. Daniels’ fourth down pass fell incomplete with 13.9 seconds left, and Valdosta walked away victorious.
Both teams’ offensive stars had big games. Arnold rushed for 189 yards on 26 carries, and caught three passes for 31 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Daniels completed 10-of-25 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns.
Lincoln took a 3-0 lead on Shane Warner’s 34-yard field goal two minutes into the second quarter.
Late in the half, Lincoln lined up to punt. Valdosta’s Sidney Bivins raced around the corner, dove and blocked the kick. The Wildcats took over at the Lincoln 21, and took advantage of the great field position.
Facing third-and-7 at the Trojan 18, Turner rolled out to pass, and found no one open. So he tucked the ball in, took off, spun out of a tackle along the sideline, and ran the ball down to the 4. Two plays later, Marcus McNair dove in behind left tackle Antonio Foster and left guard Rob Morrison for the touchdown. Lawrence Clagett’s extra point gave Valdosta a 7-3 lead.
With 1:30 left in the half, Daniels went deep for Graham. Valdosta’s Darris Roberts reached out and deflected the ball, but Graham dove and hauled it in at the Wildcat 30. Two plays later, Daniels took off on a long run, but was hit and fumbled the ball away. The score remained 7-3 at halftime.
On their first possession of the second half, the Trojans had the ball at the Valdosta 46. Daniels threw a flanker screen pass to Steven Thorpe, who got a couple of blocks downfield, and sped down the Valdosta sideline untouched for a score, giving the Trojans a 10-7 lead.
At the end of the third quarter, Lincoln drove 69 yards in 10 plays for another score. The drive was prolonged when Jabaris Little hit Starling for 30 yards on a fake punt. Three plays later, Graham got behind the secondary, and hauled in a 28-yard touchdown pass from Daniels, making it 17-7.
But the Wildcats weren’t ready to fold yet. On its ensuing possession, Valdosta drove 80 yards in seven plays. Arnold was a workhorse on the drive, carrying on each of the first six plays. His runs of 20 and 37 yards helped the Wildcats move to the Lincoln 9.
On second-and-goal from the Lincoln 22, following a holding penalty, Turner threw a screen pass to Arnold, who followed his blocks and took it into the end zone for the score.
Valdosta’s defense then forced Lincoln to go three-and-out. The Wildcat offense took over and drove down for the winning score.
For Valdosta, Turner completed 5-of-6 passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Thorpe had four catches for 108 yards for Lincoln.

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