Today's interviewee is Dirk Harrell, the color commentator for Valdosta's football broadcasts on 95.7 The Mix and the head coach of the Valdosta Middle School sixth-grade team. Harrell's twin sons, Jaxon and Justin Harrell, were linemen at Valdosta who now are freshmen players at LaGrange College. Harrell was a quarterback in the mid-1980s at arch-rival Lowndes, Valdosta's opponent Friday night.
Dirk Harrell, color commentator for Valdosta football broadcasts
1. How does a former Lowndes quarterback become the color commentator at Valdosta? "I grew up in the Valdosta school system and went to elementary and middle school in the Valdosta school system. In between the eighth and ninth grade, I had an uncle who was a great athlete, just an uncle that you look up to. He showed up at my house one afternoon and said come out to practice with me. This was a Monday, and Lowndes started practice that day. Valdosta's workouts started two days later. So I said OK and hopped in the truck with him, thinking I'm going to watch football practice. Meanwhile, my parents are in Central America on a mission trip. We pull into the fieldhouse at Lowndes and we go into coach Joe Wilson's office and my uncle says, 'He needs a helmet and shoulder pads.' I'm 15 and scared to death. I'm in enemy territory. My uncle picked me up the rest of the week and took me to practice at Lowndes. My parents come home from Central America and my dad goes bananas because I left. But now I'm scared I can't go back. Word has gotten out to the Valdosta coaches. I feel like I can't go back, they'd kill me. So I stayed. I made some great friends at Lowndes, but I was born a 'Cat. I just got shanghaied and thrown on a ship and taken to sea for four years. It caused a lot of friction in my household for a while, especially with Valdosta winning two state titles [1984, 1986] and a national championship [1986]."
2. Do you pull for both schools today? And is the Valdosta-Lowndes rivalry one where many fans pull for the other just for city pride? "I've mellowed on that a lot over the years. I never wished anything bad on Lowndes once I left. When my boys were born and came up in the city system, I became 100 percent with the 'Cats, but I have great friends that graduated from Lowndes, many that coach and work in the Lowndes school system. Coaching sixth grade, I get to know their kids like Bryer Touchton and Jaccuri Brown. I coached them in baseball. I think of them like my kids. So there's far from any ill will, but do I want to beat them every time? Yes, absolutely. As far as most fans, from my experience, the majority of fans pull for their side. They're not pulling for each other. It's not that they're pulling for the other team, but for the ability to rib each other. 'You let Grayson beat you?' or 'You let Lee County beat you?' It's keeping a leg up on your rival."
3. How exciting is this game compared to others that you've been part of? Both are undefeated. Valdosta is ranked No. 1, Lowndes No. 2, albeit in different classifications now. "Most of the time, one or the other is really good because you'll get a talented group coming through one school that controls the rivalry for a little bit. But every year is absolutely special because I'm finally old enough to realize this doesn't happen everywhere. When I was young, I thought everybody had this kind of rivalry. But now, I try to soak up every game. I love when the matchup is really good like this one, where on paper it shouldn't be lopsided. It's a lot easier to call that game when the matchup is a good one."
4. How do you see the game going? How would you see Valdosta winning? How would you see Lowndes winning? "You can make arguments for both sides. Lowndes is playing at their place. Playing there is a tough venue. It's a loud environment with their fans in the end zone. But I like this 'Cats team. They've got a nice swagger that I like. Last year, the defense at any different time might've had seven or eight freshmen playing on it. It's hard for a 15-year-old to tackle a 17-year-old all night. This year, that's not the case. Our defense has grown up a lot, and we've got a really good offense. Lowndes wants to run the ball. Can we stop the run? We want to pass. Can they stop the pass? This game seems to always have a special-teams play, a blocked punt or field goal, or return, something like that happens that's a turning point. Both will try to strike quick early in the game and jump off to a lead. Once the first quarter settles in and you let the adrenaline bleed off, that's when it gets interesting."
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