Valdosta claims first region title since 2016 with win over Lowndes

The magnitude of the moment would have overwhelmed many high school freshmen, but Garcia said the atmosphere — kicking in front of 12,000 people to snap a nine-year region title drought — just got him excited.

“The crowd got me hyped up, especially the band,” Garcia said. “The band was amazing.”

The kick avenged Valdosta’s 37-27 loss to Lowndes last season. The Vikings were 9-0 and entered the matchup atop Region 1-6A.

Valdosta coach Shelton Felton also won his first region title since 2016, his last year coaching at Crisp County. Felton, now in his fifth year coaching the Wildcats, knew it was time to hang a banner.

“I’ve been hunting for that since I’ve been here,” Felton said. “At Valdosta, you better win championships, and I finally hung one, but we’re not done.

“I feel awesome for everybody in the stadium, the fans. It’s awesome.”

In front of a packed Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, with home fans participating in a black out, Felton made several gutsy calls in crucial moments.

Valdosta faced a fourth-and-3 from the Lowndes 38-yard line with less than three minutes remaining in the second half. The Wildcats had failed to convert one fourth down in the first half, but that didn’t stop Felton from taking another risk.

This time, the gamble paid off as quarterback Tyrieke Wade connected with Deron Foster on a 38-yard touchdown pass for a 13-7 lead.

Felton also decided to bet on his freshman kicker late in the fourth quarter. Garcia, who missed the extra point after Foster’s touchdown, felt nothing but confidence from his coach.

“He was like, ‘Do you, baby,’” Garcia said. “That’s all he wanted me to do, and I made it happen.”

Valdosta special teams assistant Brett Buckridge wasn’t surprised to see Garcia make the kick, either. Buckridge watched his freshman kicker make enough all season to beat a senior for the starting job in Week 2.

Buckridge also watched Garcia mentally work through some tough misses this season, including a potential go-ahead field goal in Valdosta’s only loss of the season.

“We had some opportunities earlier in the season and didn’t bank on them,” Buckridge said. “Having him come out here after missing a PAT and (converting) the game-winning field goal is huge.”

Valdosta’s defense also proved pivotal. The Wildcats turned Lowndes over on downs twice, including a goal-line stand to hold a 20-14 lead halfway through the fourth quarter.

Sophomore cornerback LaDarrius McIntyre smothered Lowndes’ Kaevone Thomas in the back corner of the end zone, and Thomas couldn’t catch the potential game-tying touchdown on fourth down.

“(Fourth down) was so important, they were going for it, but we had to go for it,” Felton said. “The biggest thing was trusting my backs and my offensive line. We trust each other, the kids trust us.

“I like to gamble sometimes, so we went for it.”

Region title tiebreaker

The Wildcats defense played a big part in the region title, outside of Friday night.

The Wildcats initially finished in a three-way tie for first place with the win over Lowndes. Valdosta, Lowndes and Colquitt County all finished 4-1 in region play and had all gone 1-1 against each other, negating a head-to-head tiebreaker.

Defensive dominance against Lowndes, Colquitt County and Richmond Hill gave Valdosta the edge for first place in the next tiebreaker: least points allowed against the other three playoff teams in the region.

The Wildcats gave up 32 combined points against Lowndes, Colquitt County and Richmond Hill. Lowndes and Colquitt County gave up and 60 and 69 points, respectively.

“We’re a defensive team, we preach defense,” Felton said. “I’m a defensive guy, and we told them when we scored, they won’t win the game. We were going to bow down and play great defense.”

Correction

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of LaDarrius McIntyre.