VALDOSTA, Ga. — A game prime for a low-scoring struggle between cross-town rivals turned into an all-out celebration Friday.

Valdosta High closed the first half against Lowndes with 18 unanswered points, and recovered from a second half-opening blunder, to score the game’s final 20 points en route to the program’s 900th victory in the most-lopsided Winnersville Classic in seven years 38-13.

Valdosta became the first high school football program in the nation to reach 900 wins and the second team all-time, trailing only the University of Michigan, but the triumph also marked the first in the tenure of head coach Alan Rodemaker and the third-straight victory against Lowndes, making Friday night at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium a night to remember.

“For me, I didn’t coach but two years at Peach (County), so it’s by far my biggest win as a head coach,” Rodemaker said after the game. “That goes without saying.”

The Wildcats and Vikings have averaged 26 points combined over the course of the past six years with the average margin of victory coming down to fewer than six points per contest.

Valdosta topped the scoring output itself Friday.

Valdosta 38, Lowndes 13

Lowndes	7	0	6	0	—	13
Valdosta	0	18	7	13	—	38

First Quarter

LHS—Tyson Harris 19 pass from Michael Barrett (Eric Paulo kick).

Second Quarter

VHS—Davis Baldwin 18 field goal.

VHS—James Bushware 35 punt block return (Hunter Holt run).

VHS—Josh Belton 47 run (Baldwin kick).

Third Quarter

LHS—Barrett 50 run (run failed).

VHS—Jayce Rogers 84 punt return (Baldwin kick).

Fourth Quarter

VHS—Tevin Gray 25 run (run failed).

VHS—Jalen Everett 40 interception return (AJ Akins kick).

	LHS	VHS
First Downs	6	13
Rush-Yds	30-110	38-279
Passing	95	69
C-A-I	8-17-1	12-16-0
Fum-Lost	1-1	2-1
Pen-Yds	6-39	12-75

Individual Statistics

RUSHING—Lowndes, Barrett 13-70, Travis Tisdale 7-40, JD Lee 5-17, Deonte Moore 1-2, Jeffrey Davis 1-(-1), Marcus Gary 1-(-2), Jalen Smith 1-(-3), Tayvonn Kyle 1-(-13). Valdosta, Gray 11-104, Belton 14-88, Jeremiah Proctor 6-61, Rogers 2-20, JJ Strickland 3-10, Rajae’z Mosley 1-1, Holt 1-(-5).

PASSING—Lowndes, Barrett 8-17-1 95. Valdosta, Belton 12-16 0 69.

RECEIVING—Lowndes, Xavier Jenkins 5-71, Harris 2-26, Lee 1-(-2). Valdosta, Wesley Veal 3-25, Strickland 2-12, Damarrias Morrow 2-10, Rogers 2-7, JR Ingram 1-8, Tre Fowler 1-5, Bushware 1-2.

Despite entering the game with question marks offensively and on special teams after a sluggish showing in last week’s scrimmage against Cairo, the ‘Cats showed they had answers for each and every query against the Vikings.

Quarterbacks Hunter Holt and Josh Belton split reps throughout the summer, and it was Holt under center for the first play of last week’s scrimmage, but Friday it was Belton who received the start, and he never relinquished control.

Belton transferred back to Valdosta after spending the beginning of his high school career at Canterbury High School in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Even though Belton’s first start at VHS came in the electric atmosphere surrounding Winnersville Classic, it looked as if he never left.

Belton led the Wildcats with 76 yards rushing and a score in the first half to go along with 63 yards through the air on a perfect 9-of-9 passing performance. He finished the game with 88 rushing yards and a touchdown on 14 carries and 12-of-17 with 69 yards through the air.

“We went in getting ready to play both of them, but as it went on he had a couple good drives, so we hung in right in there with him,” Rodemaker said. “I can tell you something about (Belton) and Hunter, they’re team players. They pull for each other.

“If Belton goes down or has a bad series and Hunter goes in there, Belton would be pulling for him just as hard.”

After the game, Belton spoke about taking part in his first Winnersville Classic.

“It feels good to be back with my family,” he said. “These are like my brothers. All of these are my brothers.

“When I came back, I knew I made the right decision, because God led me here. I just played the best I could. I just wanted to ball out.”

Lowndes actually got out to a 7-0 lead on Michael Barrett’s touchdown pass to Tyson Harris with 3:56 remaining in the first quarter, but Belton responded, leading Valdosta on a 14-play drive into the second quarter to cut the deficit to four with a field goal.

Another area the Wildcats showed they clearly needed to improve after the scrimmage against the Syrupmakers was on special teams. Between a blocked punt and two kickoff returns, Valdosta allowed Cairo to score all three its touchdowns off special teams.

Valdosta uses special teams touchdowns to down Lowndes

On Friday, it was Valdosta’s special teams making the plays.

The Vikings couldn’t respond to the Wildcat field goal. Instead, when Lowndes dropped back to punt, Marlon Brown snaked his way around the offensive line and blocked the kick and James Bushware scooped up the loose ball and took it 35 yards for the touchdown and Valdosta’s first lead of the game.

“We were in a return,” said Rodemaker, describing the play. “We sent one guy, he just hustled…

“One guy hustling changed the whole ballgame.”

Valdosta extended its lead to 18-7 with fewer than a minute-and-a-half to play in the first half when Belton kept the ball himself a few series later and broke away from the Lowndes defense on a 47-yard touchdown run on the first play of the drive.

Suddenly in danger of the game getting out of hand, Lowndes caught a glimmer of hope when Valdosta return man Jayce Rogers fumbled the second half’s opening kick return.

The Vikings pounced on the ball, and on the ensuing play, Barrett broke off a 50-yard touchdown run of his own to give his team life at 18-13.

Valdosta responded by going three-and-out, in turn handing the momentum to its opponent in a five-point game.

However, the Wildcats’ defense didn’t let up. Bushware made another splash play, sacking Barrett on third down to force a punt. This time it was Rogers making the play on special teams, redeeming his earlier fumble with a touchdown on an 84-yard punt return.

“I’ve got to make up for it,” Rogers said, describing what went through his mind on the return. “I fumbled. I don’t fumble, you feel me? So I had to make up for it.”

With lingering questions regarding special teams and quarterback play following Valdosta’s scrimmage against Cairo seemingly answered resoundingly, all that remained was who would take over next to Belton in the backfield.

Like the quarterback situation, the Wildcats rode the hot hand.

Tevin Gray scored from 25 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter to increase Valdosta’s lead to 31-13, and after another defensive stop, he helped salt the game away with five straight carries, going over 100 yards in the process.

Gray’s night ended with 104 yards rushing on just 11 carries — just six yards fewer than the Vikings totaled as a team on 19 fewer carries.

“We had a hard time moving the ball at times,” Lowndes coach Randy McPherson said. “They ran the ball really well on our defense.

“We just have to get better, that’s the bottom line.”

Time ticked away from the scoreboard until Barrett, backed up in Viking territory, tossed his first interception of the game to Jalen Everrett, who returned it for a score.

Holding a 25-point lead with less than four minutes to play, the celebration began in the stands at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

Valdosta rushed for 279 yards on 38 carries, finishing with 348 yards of total offense and just one turnover while holding Lowndes to 205 yards of offense with two turnovers.

“I thought it was a good win because the special teams played a big part, defense played a big part, and offense played a big part. I think equal parts.

“For that, I’m just proud. It was a good team victory.”

For Lowndes, 0-1 isn’t the way it wanted to start the season, but with Winnersville now a non-region contest, the Vikings shouldn’t dwell on the loss.

“We’ve got to block better,” McPherson said. “We’ve got to protect the ball. We just have to get better. The season is still early. Sure, we didn’t want to lose this ballgame, but we’ve got to get back to work.”

As for the Wildcats and Rodemaker, they know the season isn’t decided in Week 1. Still, that doesn’t mean they can’t soak in the program’s 900th win for now.

“I’ll talk about it Monday,” Rodemaker said about his team’s next game. “I don’t even want to think about it till Monday.”

Derrick Davis is a sports reporter at the Valdosta Daily Times.

Aug. 19	at Valdosta	L 38-13
Aug. 26	Bayside (Fla.)	8 p.m.
Sept. 2	at Parkview	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 9	Shiloh	8 p.m.
Sept. 16	Newton	8 p.m.
Sept. 23	Mt. Zion-Jonesboro	8 p.m.
Sept. 30	Ware County	8 p.m.
Oct. 14	Tift County	8 p.m.
Oct. 21	Camden County	8 p.m.
Oct. 28	at Colquitt County	7:30 p.m.

Aug. 19	Lowndes	W 38-13
Aug. 26	Woodland-Stockbridge	8 p.m.
Sept. 2	at Wayne County	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 9	at Tift County	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 16	at Thomas Co. Central	8 p.m.
Sept. 23	Colquitt County	8 p.m.
Oct. 7	Northside-Warner Robins	8 p.m.
Oct. 21	at Lee County	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 28	Coffee	8 p.m.
Nov. 4	at Houston County	7:30 p.m.