Central Impressive in Blowout Win Over Lowndes in Scrimmage

Published 9:58 am Monday, August 4, 2025

VALDOSTA – Thomas County Central emerged from its preseason game with Lowndes Friday with little complaints.

It won 28-10. Running back Christian Lawrence ran for 187 yards and one touchdown. The defense surrendered just one touchdown. Most importantly, the team emerged healthy following its decisive victory at Martin Stadium.

“Amen. You want to play competitive and see a lot of guys play but what you really want to do is get healthy. We’re very fortunate to come out of here really good,” Central coach Justin Rogers said. “We’ve got good film to correct but no injuries.”

Central punted on its first three possessions but scored touchdowns on three of next four drives to take a 21-10 lead at halftime.

“It was just a miss here, miss there. We had two 3-and-outs. We were able to settle down and put some drives together,” Rogers said. “I was real impressed when we started on the 1 (yard line) and go 99 yards. That was a big drive.”

Quarterback Jaylen Johnson passed for 122 yards and two touchdowns of 32 and 33 yards to Gary Pringle. But Lawrence, a Wake Forest commit, was the difference maker. He had runs of 27, 19 and 72 yards, the latter for a touchdown.

“He was (a home run threat) last year, and he’s picking up where he left off. He’s such a little guy, too, but he runs so violently. He just runs so hard,” Rogers said.

It was an impressive start for the Yellow Jackets against the Class 6-A Vikings. Central finished with 373 yards. Its defense limited Lowndes to just two big plays, a 61-yard run out of the ‘Wildcat’ formation and a 64-yard touchdown pass.

“I’m really proud of them. I thought our kids played really, really hard. I thought we made some really good plays. I thought we left some out on the table,” Rogers said. “Defensively, we gave up the two plays; the ‘Wildcat’ and the double move. I thought our D-Line just applied pressure all night on their offense. I’m really happy with it. But like you said, we missed on some throws, missed on sustaining some blocks; a lot of things. We’re going to be able to learn from this, correct and challenge ourselves.”

Central will host its season opener against Monroe on Aug. 15.