Lowndes-Valdosta rivalry is ‘biggest in the country,’ coach says
Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Lowndes coach Adam Carter, whose team is playing at home Friday against Valdosta in the Winnersville Classic, Georgia’s most famous rivalry. Both teams are 8-0 overall and 1-0 in Region 1-7A. This is the first meeting between the county rivals in which both had Top 5 rankings since 1996. Valdosta is No. 4. Lowndes is No. 5. Carter’s record there is 32-10. Carter was the head coach of Grayson’s 2020 Class 7A championship team.
1. What makes Valdosta difficult to defend? What is the challenge when playing the Wildcats, or what is that they have that nobody else (or very few others) possess?
“Their offense has been arguably the most explosive in the state. The tempo in which they play is overwhelming at times, and when you add the level of talent into the mix, it makes everything challenging. The quarterback is playing extremely well. They have big-play potential on every snap at running back and wide receiver. The offensive line is one of the largest they have had in recent years. It’s just overall a really good group.”
Note: Valdosta has a pair of Power 4-committed running backs: Marquis Fennell (Stanford) and Deron Foster (Oregon State).
2. We see that you have your quarterback, Jayce Johnson, back in action. What does Jayce bring to the offense? What’s his skill set, and how does it make your offense better?
“Jayce just brings a different confidence to the team. He is extremely talented. Has a big arm and can extend plays with his legs when he needs to. His ability to stretch the ball down the field to our playmakers is a huge plus for our offense. When he is in the game, a defense must defend the entire field. He definitely makes us more dynamic and opens up the explosive plays in the run and pass game.”
Note: Jayce Johnson, a Texas A&M commit, played his first game since Sept. 4 last week and passed for 112 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns against Richmond Hill.
3. Your team is averaging fewer than 10 passing attempts per game. That’s even less than last year’s team, which was a strong running outfit. How did it evolve that this is part of your team’s identity? Is it more about your philosophy, or is it fitting the scheme with the players’ talents?
“We are just trying to do what our kids do well each week. The scheme should be focused on our personnel and what we need to do in order to score points. If we need to throw it, we believe we can. Jayce was out early and our backup quarterbacks did a great job. We did not ask them to do too much and wanted to rely on our offensive line and (running back) Mason Woods. When you throw in the ability of (wide receivers) Kaevone Thomas and Waylon Weidinger to run the football, it just fit us early in season.”
Note: Woods has rushed for 844 yards. Thomas has rushed for 257 yards to go with his team-leading 470 receiving yards. Weidinger has 307 yards from scrimmage. Lowndes also has a good offensive line led by Abram Eisenhower, a tackle committed to Georgia.
4. What are rivalry games in South Georgia like that’s different from elsewhere? And this one specifically?
“This one is the biggest in the country, in my opinion. South Georgia communities are all in for high school sports. Two historically successful programs, extreme proximity, a deliberate city-county identity divide, intentional weeklong community events, and a culture where this one game is talked about for the other 364 days. It’s less a normal Friday night and more a local holiday.”
Note: Valdosta is the city school. Lowndes is the county school. The series began in 1968, two years after Lowndes opened. Valdosta players and fans used to call Lowndes players “plowboys,“ a name Lowndes embraced and still proudly uses. Since the rivalry began, Valdosta has won 12 state titles and Lowndes has won five. Lowndes leads the series 40-24.