The Rush Propst era in Valdosta got off to a dramatic and ultimately successful start Friday when his Wildcats rallied to beat Warner Robins 28-25 in a battle of top-ranked teams.
Angel Martinez kicked a 41-yard field goal with 25.3 seconds remaining to give Valdosta, ranked No. 1 in 6A, its third consecutive season-opening victory. Warner Robins remained No. 1 in Class 5A despite the loss.
Propst led Hoover of Alabama to a 110-16 record and five state championship in nine seasons (1999-2007), then went 119-35 with two state titles in 11 seasons (2008-2018) at Colquitt County. After Propst and Colquitt County parted ways, he spent last season as a consultant with UAB. Propst was then hired at Valdosta to replace Alan Rodemaker, who was fired despite a 36-17 record and the 2016 state championship in four seasons.
The game also was the Valdosta debut for Jake Garcia, a Southern Cal-committed quarterback who transferred to Georgia after California postponed its season. Garcia struggled in the first half as Valdosta fell behind 13-3, throwing an interception and fumbling twice. But he bounced back in the second half and finished 21-of-34 passing for 332 yards, with touchdown passes of 56 yards to Tajh Sanders and 55 yards to Aalah Brown.
“When you trail the whole game and then finally find a way to tie it, that’s the turning point,” Propst told Shane Thomas of the Valdosta Daily Times. “We made a lot of crucial mistakes. … It reminded me of a first game scrimmage. That’s how many mistakes were made. They always say you make your best improvement from Game 1 to Game 2, but that’s after having a scrimmage game, too. I’ll probably see the most improvement after Tift County and into the Bainbridge game.”
Valdosta plays at Class 7A Tift County this week.
Here are some of the other big stories in Class 6A from Week 1:
*A little payback for Allatoona: Sure, the stakes weren’t as high as the last time these two teams met, nine months ago in the Class 6A championship game, but No. 8 Allatoona earned some revenge with a 27-17 victory over Harrison in the teams’ opener Friday in Kennesaw. Allatoona sophomore Jayden Ponder scored on a 58-yard run with three minutes remaining for a 27-10 lead, putting the game away. Ponder, inserted in the game in the second half, rushed for 92 yards on 11 carries, according to the Marietta Daily Journal. Hunter Paulsen returned an interception 29 yards for a 20-10 lead early in the second half. Harrison, now playing in Class 7A, beat Allatoona twice last season, 21-17 on Oct. 11 in the game that decided the Region 6 title and 20-7 in the state championship game.
*Wildcats still rolling: Richmond Hill was one of the top stories in Class 6A last season, overcoming a 1-3 start by winning eight consecutive games to claim their second region title in program history and reach their first semifinal, where they were eliminated by runner-up Allatoona 17-14 in overtime. It appears the momentum has carried over to 2020, as the Wildcats opened the season with a 28-11 victory over then-No. 8 Camden County of Class 7A, avenging one of their regular-season losses in 2019. Richmond Hill lost last year’s Region 2 player of the year, running back Jalen Rouse, to graduation but got a combined 193 yards rushing against Camden County from seniors Ashaud Roberson (28 carries, 115 yards, three touchdowns) and Kenyan Hunter (7 carries, 78 yards, one TD).
*Winless at the Corky Kell: Three Class 6A teams participated in the Corky Kell Classic over the weekend, and all three came up on the losing end against Class 7A teams. Dacula led Brookwood 14-7 late in the fourth quarter Thursday, but the Broncos scored on a 34-yard pass with 1:03 remaining and eventually won 40-34 in four overtimes in the most entertaining game of the four-day event. Kell led Walton 28-16 midway through the third quarter Friday, but Walton scored the game’s final 19 points and won 35-28. Kell QB Corbin LaFrance was 21-of-33 passing for 271 yards and a touchdown and ran for 57 yards. Carrollton fell behind Collins Hill 26-7 in the first half Saturday and never recovered, losing 46-24. Collins Hill put up 509 yards of total offense, including 364 passing.
*Minor rankings impact: Every classification had at least two top-10 teams that lost on the first weekend of the season (26 did it overall), but 6A was the only classification in which none of its top 10 dropped out of the rankings. Dacula remained at No. 6 after its four-overtime loss to Brookwood, and Carrollton dropped from No. 4 to No. 9 after its loss to Collins Hill. Current No. 1 Valdosta (28-25 vs. Warner Robins), No. 4 Richmond Hill (28-11 vs. Camden County), No. 5 Rome (28-21 vs. Rockmart), No. 8 Allatoona (27-17 vs. Harrison) and No. 10 Douglas County (47-7 vs. Lithia Springs) won their openers. No. 2 Lee County and No. 3 Buford open their seasons this week. Seventh-ranked Westlake is scheduled to play its first game against Creekside on Sept. 18.
*Schedule
Here is this week’s schedule, as of Monday night (all games are Friday unless noted):
- Region 1: Houston County at Crisp County; Valdosta at Tift County; Northside-Warner Robins at Peach County; Jackson-Atlanta at Lee County
- Region 2: Benedictine at Effingham County; Glynn Academy at Camden County; Richmond Hill at Ware County; McIntosh County Academy at Brunswick; Liberty County at Bradwell Institute; Metter at South Effingham; Statesboro off
- Region 3: Hephzibah at Evans; Alcovy vs. Newton (Sharp Stadium); Thomson at Grovetown; Lakeside-Evans off
- Region 4: Lovejoy vs. Carver-Atlanta (Saturday, Georgia State); Morrow vs. Forest Park (Tara Stadium); Hughes, Lakeside-Atlanta, North Atlanta, Tucker, Westlake off
- Region 5: Lithia Springs at Alexander; Douglas County at Stockbridge; Campbell at East Paulding; Hiram at Paulding County; North Paulding at South Paulding; Carrollton at Newnan; Dalton at Ridgeland; Rome off
- Region 6: Denmark at Allatoona; Hillgrove at Kell; Kennesaw Mountain at Discovery; Lassiter at Lambert; Sprayberry at Collins Hill; Dutchtown at Wheeler; Osborne at Woodland-Cartersville; Pope at Walton; South Cobb at Pebblebrook
- Region 7: Woodstock at River Ridge; Sequoyah at Cherokee; Creekview, Cambridge, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Johns Creek, Riverwood off
- Region 8: Central Gwinnett at Jefferson; Habersham Central at Apalachee; Eastside at Winder-Barrow; Buford at North Cobb; Lanier, Dacula, Shiloh off
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