Wildcats fall to Tift, 17-0

By Christian Malone
The Valdosta Daily Times

November 01, 2008 04:53 pm

— TIFTON — Valdosta’s playoff hopes died at the Devil’s Den Friday night.
Valdosta fell 17-0 to Tift County Friday at Gene Brodie Field. Tift scored 17 points in the third quarter, and kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard all game, en route to winning its sixth game of the season.
The banged-up Wildcats, with nine starters either out or hobbled with injuries, suffered their fifth loss in the last six games, and fell to 4-5 on the season. The loss mathematically eliminated Valdosta from playoff contention. It was a tough loss for Valdosta, in what has turned into a tough season.
“I’m disappointed,” Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin said. “Tift County played well. They’ve got a good football team. I think (not having those injured players) hurt us.”
After being shut out in the first half, three plays by Tift’s special teams gave the Blue Devils 10 points early in the third quarter.
On the opening kickoff of the second half, Tift’s Jared Davis found an opening and raced all the way to the Valdosta 30. The drive stalled, but on fourth-and-7, Tift coach Jay Walls sent Jordan West on to try a 44-yard field goal. His kick made it through the uprights, and gave Tift a 3-0 lead.
On the ensuing drive, the Blue Devils forced the Wildcats to punt again. Then Tift’s Dominique Rich broke through the line and blocked John Mark Stephenson’s kick. Jakiel McCray scooped up the ball and ran it back 20 yards for a touchdown, giving Tift a 10-0 lead.
“That’s only the second punt I’ve ever had blocked in all my years of coaching,” Tomberlin said. “I think they’re real good at it, and I think we didn’t get our splits right and block like we should have.”
Near the end of the third quarter, Nick Prostko’s punt pinned the Wildcats on their own 1-yard line, and after a three-and-out, Davis returned a punt down to the Valdosta 20. A facemask penalty on the play moved the ball to the 10. On the next play, quarterback Malcom Dixon fired a strike to Davis in the end zone for a touchdown, increasing Tift’s lead to 17-0.
The fourth quarter was a defensive stalemate, with neither team able to move the ball. Valdosta’s defense shut down the Blue Devils for the final 15 minutes, but Prostko’s punts kept pinning the VHS offense deep in its own end, and the Wildcats were unable to put together a drive.
“We stayed backed up the whole second and third quarters,” Tomberlin said.
Tift dominated the first half, but somehow was unable to put the ball in the end zone until the third quarter.
On their first possession of the game, the Blue Devils drove 73 yards, all the way to the Valdosta 1. But on fourth-and-goal from the 1, the Wildcats’ defensive line ganged up to stuff Dixon on a quarterback sneak, and keep the Blue Devils from scoring.
After Tift forced a three-and-out, it drove into the red zone again, getting down to the 11. But a holding penalty helped stall the drive, and West missed a 33-yard field goal.
The third time in the red zone looked like the charm for the Blue Devils, but again they came up short. Twice Tift converted on fourth down to keep the drive alive, and moved the ball to the 3. On first-and-goal from the 3, Dixon kept on the option, cut inside, but as he approached the goal line, the ball came loose, and rolled out of the end zone for a touchback. That gave the Wildcats the ball at the 20, and again denied the Blue Devils any points.
Late in the first half, Tift’s Tommy Johnson recovered a fumble at the Valdosta 18. The Blue Devils made it to the 12, but West missed a 29-yard field goal, and the score remained tied at halftime.
Valdosta’s offense managed just 10 yards rushing on 29 carries, in large part because Tift’s defense made 12 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Valdosta quarterbacks Kyle Rowe and Chad Prain were a combined 5-for-20 passing for 71 yards.
“I thought we played great on defense. I thought we had a good gameplan on offense, but we dropped a few passes, and that hurt us,” Tomberlin said.
Valdosta’s best scoring chance came late in the game, when cornerback Odell James returned an interception down to the 15. But the Wildcats fumbled the ball away on the next play. Also, midway through the second quarter, a 31-yard pass from Rowe to Jay Rome and a 12-yard run by Phillip Moore moved the ball to the Blue Devil 31. But the Wildcats wound up turning the ball over on downs.
Valdosta will host Houston County at 7:30 p.m. next Friday in its final game of the season. It will be Senior Night at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.