Valdosta Tops South Gwinnett in Battle of Unbeatens

SNELLVILLE — In a duel between undefeated football teams and high-level elusive quarterbacks, four-star Todd Robinson and the Valdosta Wildcats made the most of their 250-mile road trip in their 27-10 victory over the South Gwinnett Comets.

The first quarter was dominated by Valdosta and Robinson was the central figure of the offense as everything was run through the quarterback. In the second quarter, South Gwinnett fought back, bringing energy as the weather became a major factor in the game. In the second half, both teams marched down the length of the football field to score, but South Gwinnett ran out of offensive juice in the fourth quarter, failing to recover from the early deficit.

South Gwinnett’s defense looked promising to start the game as they forced a quick three-and-out, but they were put on the field within their own territory after a costly interception. Starting at the 30-yard line, Valdosta swiftly took advantage, punching in a 15-yard connection.

Starting at its own 13, Valdosta marched down the field with an 87-yard drive capped off by a 9-yard rushing touchdown where Deron Foster was untouched in his pursuit of the goal line. Coach Bryan Lamar stated that this was “the most disappointing drive” due to the fact South Gwinnett “had them pinned and they drove the whole length of the field after we did not convert.”

As the second quarter was ready to begin, the skies opened up leading to a downpour that drastically changed the playing conditions and the battling teams’ approaches.

“The rain didn’t help…none of that is good when trying to be a balanced attack,” Lamar said of the weather. “The same thing on their end, they didn’t throw a bunch of deep vertical routes.”

The second quarter of this matchup can be described in pairs. There were two over 10-yard rushing touchdowns for Eric Ramey called back due to holding on the same drive, two balls that should have been intercepted by Valdosta but dropped due to the slick conditions, two failed fourth down conversions by South Gwinnett, only two completed passed for the Comets, and two quarterbacks who wear No. 2 who extended drives through the elusive ability to gain extra yards with their legs.

In the second quarter, South Gwinnett pulled the game within one score due to quarterback Xavier “Deuce” Butler’s ability to evade the collapsing pocket as he decided to keep the ball for himself and stumble into the end zone after a 27-yard rush on 3rd and long.

The Comets struggled on special teams, kicking the ball out of bounds after their first touchdown. The Wildcats utilized their field position, scoring on the third play of their drive after Robinson scrambled out of the pocket, rolled to the sideline, and lofted up a ball to the wide-open receiver for a 48-yard touchdown. The Comets barely avoided another special teams mishap when they muffed but recovered a punt heading into halftime that could have easily been converted to points if Valdosta recovered the ball.

Valdosta’s first drive of the second half was a 99-yard scoring drive, where only Robinson and Deron Foster touched the football until Prince Jean took a shovel pass 31 yards to the end zone. The Comets responded to this long drive later in the quarter when they traveled the entire field with a 98-yard receiving touchdown for Jackson Cook that brought the home crowd back into the game.

The South Gwinnett Comets followed that explosive play with two three-and-outs in the fourth quarter where the clock fizzled out and Valdosta’s rushing game burned out the rest of the time ending the game 27-14 in favor of the Wildcats.

“We have to make sure we start a little bit better and continue throughout a game to win this type of game,” Lamar said.

Coach Lamar noted that Region 4-AAAAAA is “still going to be tough and competitive” as the Comets head into a six-game stretch against region opponents.

“We have to get better every week,” he said. “This week our goal is to finish 1-0. ... We can be as good as anybody in the state but we have to be consistent.”

Valdosta will keep its perfect record intact heading into its bye-week while South Gwinnett hopes to bounce back as region play begins next week against Rockdale County.