Greg Reid: Vikings’ playmaker

By Christian Malone

December 14, 2007 02:35 am

— VALDOSTA — Greg Reid makes big plays on offense. He makes big plays on defense. He makes big plays on special teams.
In fact, the only time Reid is not a threat to make a big play is when he’s on the sideline. And that is not often.
You can bet North Gwinnett will have its eyes on Reid pretty much every play. If you’re Lowndes’ opponent, you have to.
Fail to defend one of his running lanes, and he could break a long touchdown run. Throw the ball his way when he’s on defense, and it easily could be an interception. Kick the ball to him, and you have to pray he doesn’t just run past you and take it back for a touchdown.
Reid, Lowndes’ triple threat, will lead the Vikings into Saturday night’s Class AAAAA state championship game against North Gwinnett at Martin Stadium.
“I’m real excited. This is the first state championship I’ve played in,” Reid said. “We saw our team win it (in 2004 and 2005), and now we want to win it. It would be real nice to win it, especially for all the seniors. This has been a great year, and now we want to win one more game.”
Greg Reid is about as valuable a player as there is in Georgia high school football, because Lowndes utilizes his impressive football skills in so many ways.
He’s a running back. He’s a receiver. He’s sometimes the quarterback. He’s a defensive back. He returns both kickoffs and punts. He doesn’t wash the laundry or fix the plumbing for Lowndes, but if they asked him to, he probably could.
Reid has rushed for 766 yards on 102 carries (a 7.5 yards-per-carry average), and scored 13 touchdowns on the ground. He leads the team with 10 catches for 211 yards and three of Lowndes’ four touchdown catches. He has lined up at quarterback and completed 2-of-5 passes for 24 yards.
On defense, he has made 56 tackles, one tackle for loss, intercepted six passes, broken up seven passes, and also has a quarterback hurry. As a kick returner, he averages 34.1 yards per return, including a Viking record-tying 99-yard return for a touchdown. As a punt returner, he averages 14.1 yards per return, and had a 63-yard return for a touchdown earlier this year.
“Greg Reid is a great football player,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. “He’s a great kid, and a great team player. He does whatever you ask him to do. We’re blessed to have him. He’s one of the best players and hardest workers I’ve ever coached.”
Reid loves all the roles he is able to play for the Vikings.
“I love it. I’ve been running the ball and playing defense for a few years,” he said. “Whatever I do, I go hard at it every play.”
Because of his versatility, it was hard to decide how to honor him when it came time to vote for All-Region. So the voters decided, for the first time in many years, to give out an overall Region 1-AAAAA Player of the Year. You might as well call it the Greg Reid Award.
“It meant a lot to me,” Reid said. “But I knew I still had goals left to achieve, because we were going into the playoffs.”
North Gwinnett is well aware of how good Reid is. By now, they’ve seen footage of multiple Lowndes games.
When asked about Lowndes by The Valdosta Daily Times on Wednesday, Reid was the first player North Gwinnett head coach Bob Sphire mentioned.
“Lowndes has an offense you just look at and say, ‘Wow.’ They are really good and have great game-breakers,” Sphire said. “That (Greg) Reid kid is pretty fast.”
“He’s a winner,” McPherson said. “He goes hard when he has the ball, or when he’s blocking, or on defense. He’s also a leader. He doesn’t say a lot, but he leads by example.”
Last year, Reid became the rare sophomore to receive All-State honors, as a defensive back after he picked off eight passes. He was also second on the team in rushing with 387 yards and five touchdowns, behind fellow star Darriet Perry, and led the team with nine catches for 148 yards and three touchdowns.
This year, he’s only added to those numbers.
His play has also led the Vikings’ coaching staff to get a little more creative. This year, the team put in a new offensive set, which they call Tebow (after the Heisman Trophy winner from Florida). In that shotgun set, the ball can be snapped to any of three players. But it usually goes to Reid, who has the option of taking off and running the ball or throwing it if he sees an open receiver. It’s just another way Lowndes has found to get the ball in his hands.
“I like when we run Tebow,” Reid said. “I like getting the ball snapped to me. We have different plays, so I know either to run it or pass it.”
While he has received a lot of acclaim, Reid would rather talk about his team.
“It takes a team effort. If our offensive line and defensive line don’t do their jobs, I can’t do my job,” he said.
Fans watching last week’s semifinal victory over Camden County may have noticed Reid wearing orange gloves when he caught the game’s only touchdown on a halfback pass from Gerald Demps. Reid says those are his lucky gloves, which he has kept in a Bible.

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