Valwood tops Deerfield-Windsor, throws region title race wide open

Deerfield-Windsor had the chance Friday to wrap up the GISA Region 3-3A football title with a win over Valwood.

Instead, there’s now a three-way tie in the loss column for first in the region with a week to go, as Valwood picked up a 35-0 win over the Knights in Albany.

Valwood led 14-0 at the half, then the Valiants extended their lead with a blocked punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter. Valwood scored two more touchdowns in the third, putting Deerfield-Windsor away.

Garrett Jones picked up 65 yards on 15 carries in the loss.

Deerfield-Windsor (5-4 overall) and Valwood (5-3 overall) are tied at 2-1 in region play. Southland, which beat Brookwood 41-3, finished its regular season Friday with a 3-1 region record.

Southland (8-1 overall) ran for 354 yards in its win, with Clay Owens going for 175 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries.

Deerfield-Windsor closes the regular season next Friday at Brookwood, while Valwood hosts Tiftarea, which beat Westfield 55-18 in a non-region contest.

Dougherty falls just short

It was a heartbreaker for Dougherty on Thursday night at Hugh Mills Stadium as the Trojans fell to Cook 33-32.

Down 33-32 with 2:41 left, the Trojans (1-7, 0-2 GHSA Region 1-3A) started their final drive at their own 30. The drive showed promise after Dougherty was able to move the chains, but freshman cornerback Omar Pickett came up with an interception for Cook to seal the deal.

Dougherty quarterback Jaylen Joyner completed touchdown passes to Kameron Venisee twice in the first half, with the Trojans leading 16-6 at the break. They added to that in the third when Jaden King snagged a 10-yard touchdown pass.

The Trojans went 3-for-3 on two-point conversions and held a 24-6 lead with 6:37 to go in the third quarter before Cook rallied.

Countdown to showdown continues

The march to a season-ending showdown in GHSA Region 1-1A between Pelham and Mitchell County continues, with Pelham rolling to a 53-0 win over Randolph-Clay and Mitchell County defeating Seminole County 35-8 to create a two-game buffer between Pelham (6-1, 6-0 region), Mitchell County (6-1, 6-0) and the rest of the region.

Mitchell County quarterback James Thomas accounted for 282 all-purpose yards against Seminole County, running for 100 yards and three scores and completing 12-of-21 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns.

Kentrell Williams and Tra Walker caught Mitchell County’s touchdown passes.

Around the Albany area

Westover (3-4, 1-3 GHSA Region 1-4A) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 26-13 win at Columbus … Baconton Charter has never won more than three games in a season, but the Blazers (3-4, 2-4 Region 1-1A) secured at least a three-win season with a 39-14 win over Seminole County … Calhoun County was held scoreless for the third straight game in a 43-0 loss to Chattahoochee County … Southwest Georgia clinched the GISA Region 3-2A title with a 40-27 win over Terrell Academy … Westwood hosted Flint River late Saturday.

Around Southwest Georgia

GHSA Region 1-7A: In one of several key South Georgia matchups Friday, second-ranked Lowndes beat fourth-ranked Tift County 51-38 in Tifton … Sixth-ranked Colquitt County kept pace with Lowndes in region play with a 27-6 win at Camden County.

GHSA Region 1-6A: Seventh-ranked Coffee opened its region slate with a 35-0 win at Houston County.

GHSA Region 1-5A: Fourth-ranked Warner Robins improved to 8-0 with a 34-8 win over Harris County … Thomas County snapped its three-game losing streak while extending Veterans’ losing streak to five games, winning 34-14 in Thomasville.

GHSA Region 1-4A: Americus-Sumter maintained its hold on first place with a 31-0 win over Shaw … Cairo beat Carver-Columbus 24-13 and Northside-Columbus topped Hardaway 31-21, keeping both the Syrupmakers and Patriots one game behind the Panthers.

GHSA Region 1-2A: Fifth-ranked Thomasville remains unbeaten following its 38-10 win over Early County … Fitzgerald opened region play with a 35-7 win over Berrien.

GHSA Region 1-1A: Miller County topped Sneads (Florida) 27-20.

GICAA South: Fullington topped Johnson Ferry Christian 44-26 … Covenant beat Georgia Christian 44-17.

Softball update

The Lee County softball team didn’t get much pop from its bats during the first game of its GHSA Class 6A first-round playoff series against Glynn Academy on Thursday.

Not that it truly mattered, considering the way Abby Hughes was pitching.

Normally a high-scoring team, Lee County was held to four runs on six hits in Game 1 of its best-of-three series. But Hughes shut down Glynn Academy, scattering five hits while striking out 15 and walking none in a 4-0 shutout.

After some extra batting cage work between games, Lee County rolled to victory in Game 2, winning 14-2 in four innings.

The Trojans (17-12) move on to host Greenbrier, a 15-0, 22-5 winner over Lovejoy, in a second-round series that begins Wednesday. At stake will be a spot in the Elite Eight in Columbus.

Also reaching the second round is Worth County, which swept Long County 11-0 and 13-1 last Wednesday. The Rams host Peach County in the second round in a series beginning Wednesday.

In Class 1A-public, Baconton Charter hosts Echols County on Wednesday after enjoying a first-round bye.

Volleyball update

Lee County’s volleyball team nearly beat Grovetown the hard way Thursday.

The Trojans rallied twice, scoring the final six points in the third set after trailing by three and going on a 7-2 run to climb out of a six-point hole late in the fourth set. That fourth-set rally left Lee County two points short of victory in its GHSA Class 6A first-round playoff match.

But Lee County couldn’t close things out. Grovetown won the final three points of the fourth set, then the Warriors took control in the fifth set to win the match and advance to the second round.

Grovetown won the match 25-18, 16-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-8.