Published November 10, 2007 04:38 am - The Lowndes Vikings closed out the regular season with a win, and finished the Region 1-AAAAA season undefeated Friday night.
Lowndes Vikings defeat Warner Robins, 23-6
No. 5 Lowndes closes out regular season 9-1
By Bryan Fazio
WARNER ROBINS — The Lowndes Vikings closed out the regular season with a win, and finished the Region 1-AAAAA season undefeated Friday night.
Lowndes beat Warner Robins 23-6, thanks in large part to its defense, which held the Demons to 92 yards of total offense, scored nine points and put Lowndes in position for one of its two offensive touchdowns.
“Our defense played outstanding,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said.
McPherson added that the Warner Robins defense played well also, and indeed it did. Warner Robins held Lowndes to 233 yards of total offense, and did not allow the Vikings to complete a pass. More importantly, the Demons did not allow the Vikings in the end zone, save for a short yardage situation and one big play.
The Vikings came up with its big play after the Demons had taken an early lead.
Warner Robins jumped ahead 6-0 just 1:54 into the game, thanks to the first of three Lowndes turnovers.
Turnovers have been a cause for concern for the Vikings all season, and the turnover bug reared its ugly head again Friday.
On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Lowndes quarterback Khary Franklin’s lateral missed its target. Warner Robins recovered on the Vikings’ 18-yard line.
Warner Robins ran the ball for two yards, threw an incomplete pass and then was hit with a penalty for five yards.
On second-and-13 from the Vikings’ 21-yard line, Warner Robins’ Aaron Allen ran 21 yards for the touchdown. On the ensuing extra point, Lowndes’ Kelly Dawsey got past the line in a hurry and blocked the kick.
The Vikings offense coughed the ball up on the next possession, as Franklin threw an interception into the hands of Demons defensive back Antonio Adkinson. But Lowndes’ defense kicked in, and didn’t relent the rest of the night.
With the Vikings trailing, they needed a big play.
Fullback Tavaris Williams stepped up and delivered that big play, breaking through the Demons’ defensive line and sprinting the rest of the way on an 81-yard touchdown run. Mark Willis followed with the extra point, to give the Vikings the lead for good, 7-6.
After seven Demons plays netted just six yards, the Viking offense took over on the Demons’ 32-yard line, after a big run by Greg Reid, and drove the ball up the field.
Five plays later, Reid took the direct snap in the Vikings’ Tebow formation and was face to face with two tacklers on the 1-yard line. Reid spun, leaving both would-be tacklers grasping at the air, and crossed the goal line for the Vikings’ second touchdown with 9:06 left in the second quarter.