Valdosta High comes back to defeat their region and cross-town rival, Lowndes High to win this year’s edition of the Winnersville Classic.

In another instant classic showdown between these two region foes, The Wildcats 5-2 (1-0) took a 37-27 victory from the Vikings 3-3 (0-1), in their region opener.

With a rivalry name like “the Winnersville Classic”, everyone in Lowndes County showed up to be a part of this electric atmosphere, as Bazemore-Hyder Stadium was rocking Friday night.

While the Wildcats went on to win, it seemed that careless penalties would be their downfall, as even with home field advantage, Valdosta played sloppy in the first half.

The Vikings took advantage of the Wildcats mistakes in the first half, as they entered the locker room leading 19-14.

“We preach four quarters here at Valdosta,” said Valdosta High head coach Shelton Felton in regard to how the Wildcats could respond.

As both teams came out for the second half, Lowndes eventually took a 27-14 lead, which would be the last points scored by the Vikings that night.

After taking a double-digit lead, the Vikings then shared the same struggles with careless penalties that Valdosta did in the first half, which according to Vikings Head Coach Adam Carter, isn’t the type of team that Lowndes High is.

“We’re not built for first-and-15, first-and-20,” Carter said. “That ain’t who we are. You got to quit shooting yourself in the foot.”

Valdosta came out on a tear after falling behind 13 points, as they cashed in on two touchdown drives to retake the lead, as the fourth quarter began with the Wildcats leading 28-27.

As time was starting to tick away, Valdosta needed to pad their lead, which is when they decided to pull off what would be the play of the game.

Both the Vikings and Wildcats did well with running the ball, which is why Valdosta drew up an HB Pass that ended up resulting in a touchdown to extend the Wildcat lead 35-27.

“We knew we had to get something going,” said Felton. “We had worked on it all year long, and one of the guys wanted to go with it. We rolled with it, and it worked out for us.”

On the ensuing Lowndes possession, the Vikings would be sacked in their own end zone, resulting in a safety.

As the clock struck triple-zeros on the scoreboard, the Wildcats reigned victorious 37-27.

Coach Felton and the rest of the Wildcat fan base celebrated their victory as well as retaining the Winnersville Classic trophy for yet another year.

“We finally had a chance to show that we’re going to fight until the end. We didn’t quit, and we kept fighting,” Felton said.

Both teams will be in action Friday, Oct. 13 as Lowndes High returns home to Martin Stadium to host the Dunbar High Tigers while Valdosta High hits the road to take on their region opponent Richmond Hill.

Written by Jack Calhoun, Sports Editor. Photo courtesy of Austin Bruce, Co-Editor in Chief.