Valdosta got little from its offense all night until the Wildcats needed it the most.
Quarterback Seth Shuman led Valdosta on a 92-yard, 20-play drive in the final four minutes of the game and scored the winning touchdown with 37.4 seconds remaining to salvage a 21-17 victory over North Cobb in the first round of the Class AAAAAA football playoffs Friday at North Cobb.
Shuman’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Jontae Baker on third-and-goal moved the Wildcats (8-3) into a second-round matchup against second-ranked Grayson (11-0) next week.
Valdosta converted two fourth-down plays on the winning drive, including a 15-yard pass from Shuman to Wesley Veal on fourth-and-10 from the Wildcats’ 21.
“I thought a great message to take away for anybody that was here tonight was that things don’t always go your way, and you have to suck it up and move forward,” Valdosta coach Rance Gillespie said. “I thought we did that tonight, and I couldn’t be prouder of our football team.”
Valdosta also caught a break on its final drive when Shuman was not penalized for what appeared to be intentional grounding in the end zone, a penalty that would’ve given North Cobb a safety, a five-point lead and the ball in the final three minutes.
North Cobb had taken a 17-14 lead on a 1-yard run by quarterback Will Lovett with 3:43 to play, capping a 99-yard drive that began when the Warriors stuffed Valdosta on four consecutive plays after a first-and-goal at the Warriors’ 1-yard line.
Valdosta finished the night with 258 yards of offense, with about a third of that coming on the final drive. The Wildcats had just 65 yards rushing on 27 carries, and Shuman was 18-for-39 passing for 193 yards. But the Wildcats’ only points from the offense came on the last drive.
Valdosta’s first two touchdowns came from special teams and the defense. Jayce Rogers returned a punt 89 yards for a score that cut North Cobb’s lead to 10-7 midway through the third quarter. On North Cobb’s next drive, Jeremiah Williams intercepted a Lovett pass and returned it 55 yards to give the Wildcats their first lead of the night.
On both returns, there appeared to be blocks in the back that were not called by an officiating crew that struggled most of the night. Sometimes even getting the ball spotted correctly was an adventure. North Cobb’s bench was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct for protesting the non-call on the interception return.
North Cobb (5-6) finished with 342 yards of offense, led by Lovett’s 24-for-37 passing performance for 286 yards. But like Valdosta, North Cobb struggled to run the ball, finishing with 56 yards on 31 carries. Lovett threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Drew Tejchman and Mewasiah Gaypia kicked a 31-yard field goal as the Warriors built a 10-0 lead in the first half.
Valdosta – 0-0-14-7 – 21
North Cobb – 7-3-0-7 – 17
N – Drew Tejchman 16 pass from Will Lovett (Mewasiah Gaypia kick)
N – Gaypia 31 field goal
V – Jayce Rogers 89 punt return (Davis Baldwin kick)
V – Jeremiah Williams 55 interception return (Baldwin kick)
N – Lovett 1 run (Gaypia kick)
V – Jontae Baker 10 pass from Seth Shuman (Baldwin kick)
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