Deerfield-Windsor wins region title

ALBANY— Deerfield-Windsor got their Halloween treats a night early.

The Knights used a 27-point first half to beat Valwood 34-7 on Friday night at Webb Memorial Stadium. With the victory, the Knights captured the Georgia Independent Schools Association Region 3-AAA title and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

As an added bonus, Deerfield-Windsor will host postseason games as long as they continue to win.

On the first play of the game, Valwood ran a wide receiver pass that was underthrown and intercepted. It took Deerfield two plays to find the end zone when Nick Wendland ran it in from the 31-yard line. The extra point was blocked, but the Knights went up 6-0.

Deerfield forced four turnovers throughout the game and scored 19 points off turnovers.

“I thought we played really well,” Deerfield-Windsor coach Allen Lowe said. “We’ve been talking about a perfect storm and wanting to play well in all three phases — offense, defense and special teams — and I thought we executed in all of them.”

On the Valiants’ ensuing drive, they marched down the field to Deerfield-Windsor two-yard line and were prepared to go for it on fourth down. They decided to attempt a field goal when a false start penalty pushed them back to the seven, but the field goal attempt hit the upright and was no good.

The Knights added to their lead when Tyler Lowe dashed up the field, cutting between multiple defenders before being pushed into the end zone by a Valwood defender for a 75-yard touchdown run. The extra point gave the Knights a 13-0 lead.

Deerfield started the game with two touchdowns on their first four offensive plays.

Lowe also had a 74-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Deerfield’s defense came up big again in the first quarter when the Knights jumped up at the line to intercept a pass.

“The defense was fantastic,” Lowe said. “We created some of those turnovers and we will take them anytime. Tonight it was a big boost for us early to get the momentum going and offensively, we kept finding away to put it in.”

Cameron McCook ran it in from the one-yard line to give the Knights a 19-0 lead.

The defending region champion Valiants would not go down without a fight. Valwood scored on their first drive of the second quarter when Jacob Parker found Maysoe Wiley behind the coverage for an easy 45-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 19-7.

A second one-yard touchdown run from McCook made the score 27-7 just before the end of the first half. McCook rushed four times for 10 yards and two touchdowns in the half.

Deerfield was helped by seven first half penalties from the Valiants.

The Knights again forced another Valwood turnover, this time a fumble that gave Deerfield-Windsor the ball close to midfield. Lowe found John Samuel Shenker in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass that made their lead 33-7 at the end of the third quarter.

Deerfield-Windsor scored on five of their first six drives in the game.

Shenker made another big play at the start of the fourth quarter when he came up with an interception at the Knights’ one-yard line.

Valwood threatened to score late in the fourth but Deerfield ended the drive with a fumble recovery.