10 Vikings Sign with Colleges on National Signing Day
One of the most successful classes in Lowndes High's football history gathered one more time on Wednesday to see 10 players sign their letters of intent. Like many of the Vikings' games over the past four years, there was drama.

Telvin Smith sat at a table, surrounded by family and friends, debating the biggest decision of his young life. The standout linebacker said on Monday that he would sign with Florida State, but as he sat at the table with a pen in his hand, he stared at two different packets of paper: One from FSU and one from Georgia.

Smith had truly not made up his mind on which school he wanted to attend. Finally, he smiled and signed the one with the Florida State logo on it, fulfilling the verbal commitment to the Seminoles that he made last fall.

"I had Georgia papers on the left side and I had FSU papers on the right side, Smith said. "I was kind of going back, thinking in my head what I was going to do. In the end, I said, ˜I think I'm going to go with Florida State, because I feel that's where it started, and that's where I'm going to finish.,

Smith said picking between FSU and UGA was a very difficult decision, but he ultimately picked the place where he thought he would fit in. He said the fact that former teammates Greg Reid and Gerald Demps are at FSU didn't play a major role in his decision.

"At the end of the day, it's going to be me on the field and in the classroom, Smith said.

Nine other Vikings also signed letters of intent on National Signing Day. Over the last four years, the 2009 class has helped the Vikings to a 42-8 record. From their sophomore season on, the 2009 seniors went 36-4 and 8-2 in the playoffs. They won the state championship in 2007.

"This is a very good senior class, Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. "It's a good group of kids character-wise. Good academics; they were real concerned about their grades. They're good athletes and good people. They represented Lowndes High well with character and honor. We're going to miss them.

"There are several seniors that didn't sign scholarships today who are very good academically, and are going to move on to the next level at whatever, McPherson said. "They might not play football, but every kid in this senior class is going to be successful.
Full article from VDTVarsity.com

Region 1-AAAAA Down to Five Teams After Realignment
Christian Malone, Valdosta Daily Times
The Georgia High School Association's Reclassification Committee released its tentative region alignments for the 2010-11 school year on Wednesday. If the GHSA's Executive Committee approves the new regions, Region 1-AAAAA will keep Valdosta High School and will cut down on the miles its athletic teams will have to travel for region games. Valdosta High's classification number (1858.5) made it a AAAA-sized school. But last month, the Valdosta Board of Education voted unanimously to petition the GHSA to remain in AAAAA.

Region 1-AAAAA will shrink from eight teams to five teams. Valdosta, Lowndes , Colquitt County, Coffee and Tift County are staying in the region, while Warner Robins, Northside and Houston County are all moving down to AAAA. The departure of the three Warner Robins schools will eliminate long trips for region games, especially for Valdosta and Lowndes . The GHSA's rule that no team can travel more than 200 miles round-trip for a game on a school night made scheduling region games with the Warner Robins schools slightly difficult. Valdosta, Lowndes , Colquitt and Coffee could only play games against a Warner Robins school on a Friday or a Saturday. That will not be a problem any more.

On the other hand, the smaller region will create another dilemma, particularly for the region's football teams. With three fewer schools in the region, more non-region games will have to be scheduled. That means that each 1-AAAAA football team must now schedule six non-region games. "Well, it's going to be tough for scheduling and finding games, but that's what it is," Lowndes High football coach Randy McPherson said. "Most of the time, non-region games are at the beginning of the schedule. It's going to be hard, really hard. The reason is because not a lot of other teams are looking for those games. Weeks four, five and six will be real hard to find a game." McPherson says he will look into scheduling AAAAA schools from metro Atlanta and along the Atlantic coast. "I'm going to try to contact anybody," McPherson said. "I'm going to do my best to find six games. I think we've got a deal with Peachtree Ridge. Ware County is subdivided. They said they wanted to play, but now it depends on how their region fits." McPherson also admits that he will miss the hard-fought games his team had against Northside, Warner Robins and Houston. "We're going to miss the competition with the Warner Robins schools. Those were good games and good competition. I thought they brought a lot to our region. I would have liked to see them stay," he said. Four teams from each region make the playoffs in each sport, so going from eight teams to five will make it easier for 1-AAAAA teams to make the postseason.
Full article from VDTVarsity.

Mistakes Lead to 10-7 Defeat By Camden
Adam MacDonald, Valdosta Daily Times
For the second year in a row, the Lowndes Vikings' season came to a stunning end on the road in the playoffs.

The Vikings were eliminated in the second round of the postseason by the Camden County Wildcats, 10-7, on Friday night at Chris Gilman Stadium.

Just like Grayson last year, Camden used an epic fourth quarter drive to seal the game. The Wildcats took over the ball with 9:11 left in the fourth quarter up by three and were able run the clock all the way to zero without giving the ball back to the Vikings.

Camden converted three fourth downs on the drive, which ended at the Vikings at the 1-yard line when time ran out.

The Vikings appeared to force a stop early in the drive, but a Viking player was called for encroachment on fourth-and-two with Camden in punt formation inside its own territory. The penalty gave Camden a first down and was a major blow to the Vikings' defense which had done its job.

"They have a great team," Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. "We had them stopped, then jumped offsides. We made too many mistakes to win the game."

The encroachment was one of several mistakes by the Vikings. The Vikings lost two fumbles, the first of which resulted Camden's go-ahead score.
Full article from VDTVarsity.

Lowndes Conquers Indians 52-14
Adam MacDonald, Valdosta Daily Times
The Lowndes Vikings are moving on to the next round.

Lowndes (10-1) defeated East Coweta 52-14 in the first round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs. The Vikings rolled up 485 yards of total offense, including 380 yards on the ground, and scored on their final six possessions Friday night at Martin Stadium.

Khary Franklin rushed for 145 yards on 10 carries, and scored two touchdowns for the Vikings. Troy Braswell gained 118 yards on nine carries, and had one touchdown.

"I'm real proud of the kids and the coaches," Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. "They played hard. I think it's a big win."

The Vikings will travel to Kingsland next Friday to face Camden County (9-2), in a matchup of the two teams that own five of the last six AAAAA state championships.

For nearly two quarters on Friday, East Coweta (7-4) kept the game close. With less than a minute remaining in the first half, Lowndes held a 10-7 lead. Then the Vikings took control, and dominated the rest of the game, scoring 35 unanswered points and punching their ticket to the second round.

The Vikings won the game in classic Lowndes fashion. The defense limited East Coweta to just seven points in the first 42 minutes, and Lowndes consistently moved the ball with its outstanding running game.
Full article from VDTVarsity.

Lowndes Defeats the Demons 31-17
Adam MacDonald, Valdosta Daily Times
With a playoff spot on the line, the Warner Robins Demons weren't going to go down without a fight. However, that didn't stop the Lowndes Vikings from clinching the No. 2 seed in Region 1-AAAAA.

The Vikings (9-1, 6-1) scored 21 points in the second half to pull away from the Demons (6-4, 4-3) and claim a 31-17 victory in their regular season finale on Friday night in Martin Stadium.

The two teams were tied 10-10 late in the third quarter when Lowndes ' passing game came alive.
Cole Parker threw two touchdowns over the final 13 minutes to put Lowndes up 24-10 and put away the pesky Demons.'

Lowndes ' win, coupled with Northside's win over Colquitt County, gives the Vikings the No. 2 seed in the region.

The Vikings will host the East Coweta Indians from Sharpsburg in the first round of the playoffs next Friday.
Full article from VDTVarsity.

Vikings Roll Over Coffee 63-7
Adam MacDonald, Valdosta Daily Times
Look out Class AAAAA, the Lowndes Vikings are hitting their stride when it counts the most.

The Vikings (8-1, 5-1) played arguably their best game of the season Friday night, trouncing the Coffee Trojans 63-7 at Martin Stadium in their second-to-last game of the regular season.

All three phases of the game played a major roll in the Vikings' eighth blowout win of the season. The Vikings' offense scored touchdowns on all six of its possessions and the defense held Coffee (3-6, 1-5) to 170 yards.

The Vikings' special teams returned two punts for touchdowns, blocked two punts and recovered one for a touchdown.

Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said after the game that he thought it was Lowndes ' best performance of the season.

"I think we got better," McPherson said. "We got to play a bunch of kids. They were ready to play. The coaches had a great game plan."

As if the night wasn't special enough, the Vikings received the news in the third quarter that Warner Robins upset Northside, 21-20. The Vikings need a win next week and a Colquitt County win over Northside to win the region.
Full article from VDT Varsity.

Vikings Tame Bears 35-0
The Lowndes Vikings showed no ill effects of a two week break from the gridiron, as they methodically wore down the Houston County Bears Friday night at McConnell-Talbert Stadium in their first game since the Winnersville Classic.

Lowndes ' offense scored on three straight possessions in the first half to take a 21-0 lead and the defense held Region 1-AAAAA's leading rusher Robert Williams to 73 yards on 24 carries.
The Vikings won the game 35-0 and improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Region 1. The Bears fell to 3-5 overall and 0-5 in the region.

"I'm proud of our kids. They played hard," Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. "Defensively we got the shutout. Offensively we had a couple of turnovers, but other than that I was proud of the way we played."

Lowndes took the opening kickoff and marched down the field on its first drive. However, Troy Braswell fumbled on the Houston County 5 yard line and the Bears recovered the ball in the end zone.
The Bears wouldn't stop the Vikings from scoring on their three drives.

Geraldo Orta capped off a 53-yard drive in the middle of the first quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0.
Full article from VDTVarsity.

Lowndes Destroys Valdosta 57-15
Christian Malone, Valdosta Daily Times
Pure domination.

That's a good way to describe Lowndes ' 57-15 victory over Valdosta on Friday night in the 2009 Winnersville Classic. The Vikings dominated the game like no Lowndes team ever had against their archrivals.

Coming into the game, Lowndes had never scored more than 28 points in a football game against Valdosta. On Friday night, the Vikings had 30 points by halftime, and wound up putting 57 on the board before the final horn sounded.

Many people consider Lowndes one of the best teams in the state, and possibly the nation.
"I'm real proud of the kids and the coaches," Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. "We pushed them all week, and they responded. I think we found out what we were made out of tonight."
Lowndes jumped on its archrivals early, scoring 17 points in the first quarter and taking a 30-7 lead into halftime. By the time the Georgia Bridgemen came on the field to perform their impressive halftime show, Lowndes had already pretty much put the game away.

The win was Lowndes ' sixth straight against their crosstown rivals.

Lowndes strong safety Geraldo Orta was chosen the player of the game. Orta had two interceptions on defense, both of which led to Viking touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 61 yards, had one run for 14 yards on offense and ran for a two-point conversion.

Lowndes ' domination began early. Orta ended Valdosta's opening drive with an interception near midfield, and returned the ball to the Valdosta 38.
Full article from VDTVarsity

Lowndes Falls to Northside 10-7
Christian Malone , Valdosta Daily Times
For the second time in three weeks, the Northside Eagles found a way to beat a team from Winnersville. This time, it was the No. 1 team in AAAAA.

Fourth-ranked Northside upset top-ranked Lowndes 10-7 in a classic game that was decided on the final play of the night.

A 36-yard field goal attempt by Lowndes ' Jed Solomon sailed just wide of the goalposts as time expired, and the Eagles hung on for the win.

It was a tough end to a hard-fought ballgame for the Vikings.

On its final possession, Lowndes (5-1, 2-1 Region 1-AAAAA) drove from its own 28 to the Northside 4 in about three minutes. Quarterback Cole Parker had two of the biggest plays on the drive. Parker raced 16 yards on a bootleg on fourth-and-4 from the Eagles' 47, then dashed 24 yards to the Northside 4 two plays later, putting the Vikings in position to score.

Then came a crucial play with nine seconds left and the ball at the 4. Parker tried to throw for wide receiver Josh Clemons in the end zone. Clemons and Northside defensive back Brison Williams got tied up. While fighting for position, Williams went down, and Clemons hauled in the pass for what would have been a touchdown. At that point, the official closest to the play had a tough call to make, whether to let the contact from both players slide or flag one of them for interference. Unfortunately for Lowndes , he decided to penalize Clemons for offensive pass interference. The call negated the touchdown and pushed Lowndes back to the Northside 19.
Full article from VDTVarsity.

Vikings Take Down Blue Devils 50-7
Adam MacDonald, Valdosta Daily Times
The Lowdes Vikings continued to roll Friday night with a 50-7 win over the Tift County Blue Devils at Martin Stadium.

For the third time in five games, Lowndes (5-0, 2-0 in Region 1-AAAAA) scored on the first play from scrimmage. Vikings' running back Troy Braswell took the opening handoff and raced 65 yards for touchdown to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

The Vikings didn't waste any time scoring on their next drive either. After an incomplete pass on the first play of the offense's second series, Khary Franklin dashed 85 yards to the end zone on the second play to put Lowndes up 14-0.

The Vikings never looked back.

"Well, I think when you get the ball on the first possession and score it's a huge advantage, especially when your defense plays so well," Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. "It's great. I'm proud of our kids, and I'm proud of our coaches. We came out and played hard."

The Vikings also scored on the first play from scrimmage against Ware County when Franklin scored on a 71-yard run. They scored a touchdown against Peachtree Ridge on the first play from scrimmage when Tyler Hunter forced a fumble and returned it to the end zone.
Full article from VDTVarsity.

MOULTRIE ’ It wasn’t always pretty, but the Lowndes Vikings left Moultrie Friday night with a 31-6 win over the Colquitt County Packers.

The win makes Lowndes 4-0 overall, and the Vikings are now in a four-way tie with Warner Robins, Northside-Warner Robins and Coffee atop Region 1-AAAAA with a 1-0 region record.

’I thought our kids played very hard against a good football team,’ Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. ’I’m very proud of our kids and coaches. It was definitely a good ball game. Colquitt has a good team.’

Lowndes benefited from two crucial mistakes by Packers quarterback Tyler Brown. Brown threw two bad interceptions deep in Vikings’ territory that cost Colquitt County when the game was still close. Brown also threw a third interception in the red zone on a tipped ball.

Lowndes Shuts out Ware County 41-0
Adam MacDonald, Valdosta Daily Times

Another Friday night, another dominating performance by the Lowndes Vikings.

The Vikings throttled the Ware County Gators Friday night at Memorial Stadium, 41-0.

Khary Franklin ran for a 71-yard touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage and the Vikings never looked back.

Lowndes (3-0) outgained Ware County (1-2) 351 yards to 55 yards in the first half alone. Lowndes had a 34-0 halftime lead, and the second half was played with a running clock.

“They were ready to play,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said about his players. “They played hard, and we were able to make some plays early. The offensive line took control of the game I thought. The defense played very well.”

Lowndes fullback Robert Anderson had 13 carries for 175 yards and three touchdowns. Anderson’s night was highlighted by an 84-yard rumble in the second quarter in which he broke at least five tackles on his way to the end zone. Anderson had 12 carries for 168 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
Full article from the VDT.

Vikings Dominate State-Ranked Peachtree Ridge Lions 51-17
Adam MacDonald, Valdosta Daily Times
What a performance turned in by the Lowndes Vikings Friday night at Martin Stadium!

The defending Region 1-AAAAA champions made an emphatic statement to the rest of the state of Georgia with a 51-17 beating of the Peachtree Ridge Lions.

The game was billed as a battle of the best in the state, with each team ranked in the top five in all of the major state polls. When it was over, it was clear that the Vikings had made themselves the team to beat in Class AAAAA.

Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson kept it in perspective, though, saying he didn’t really care what the final score was, and that a win is a win.

Going into the game, McPherson said that, regardless of the outcome, he was going to learn a lot about his team.

“I learned they want to win,” McPherson said. “They played hard, never let up and I’m just proud of the job our assistant coaches did preparing the kids.”

No one player had more to do with the outcome of the game than Lowndes running back/defensive back Tyler Hunter. The junior was a one-man wrecking crew. He accounted for two touchdowns on the first three plays, in the first 32 seconds of the game.
Full article from the Valdosta Daily Times.

Congrats to Coach McPherson on his 150th Win!
With a 75-14 win over Woodland High on Friday, August 31, 2009, Coach Randy McPherson won his 150th game.  His record now stands at 150-22 for an 87.21 winning percentage.

Coach McPherson is beginning his 14th year as a head coach.  In 6 years as head coach of the Cowboys at Madison High in Florida he went 71-9 and after one game in his 8th year at Lowndes he is now 79-13 at the helm of the Vikings.

During his 14 years as a head coach McPherson has 11 District or Region titles and four state championships.  His has received state Coach of the Year honors five times – twice in Florida and three times in Georgia. 

His 87.21 winning percentage, of Georgia coaches with 100 or more victories, stands at the top in the state. 

Lowndes Takes Down the Yellow Jackets 31-0
Adam MacDonald, Valdosta Daily Times
Big plays on offense and a stout defense higlighted the Lowndes Vikings’ 31-0 victory over the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets in Friday night’s scrimmage at Martin Stadium.

The two teams’ varsity squads played the first three quarters, and the junior varsity teams played the fourth.

Four different Vikings’ varsity players scored touchdowns, and the offense racked up 277 yards of total offense, with 228 yards coming on the ground.

The Vikings defense was simply stifling. The varsity unit held the Yellow Jackets to just 52 yards of total offense, 36 of which came on one passing play.

“Our defense is known to be strong,” senior linebacker Telvin Smith said. “We just had to come out here and have a great game and we did that, giving up only 52 yards.”

Thomas County Central’s varsity managed only two first downs and was forced to punt on all six of its possessions. The Yellow Jackets had five rushing yards on 21 carries.
Full article from the Valdosta Daily Times

TD Club Update:
Touchdown Club meetings will be held each Monday night at 7:00 PM after a Friday night game in the LHS Media Center.  The monthly business meetings, which are still held in the offseason, are held on the 2nd Monday of each month and will be held in the fieldhouse.

Kix Country 99.5FM To Broadcast Viking Games
As the Vikings move the football up and down the field they will also be moving on your radio dial.  The Lowndes County Schools Athletic Department and Black Crow Media are pleased to announce the broadcast of Lowndes Viking football games will be moving to WKAA – Kix County 99.5.   With a minimum of 75,000 watts, radio coverage of the Viking football games will now span from Cordele to Lake City, FL and from Moultrie to Waycross.  The broadcast team of Wes James and Bill Osborne will continue to bring you the play by play of each Viking victory.  If you cannot be at the game join Wes and Bill by tuning into 99.5 FM or visiting www.995kixcountry.fm and click on the ‘Listen Live Click Here’ link. 

New Viking Desktop Wallpaper
You can add plenty of Viking spirit to your computer with this new desktop background, available in standard and widescreen formats. When the picture loads, just right-click it and click "set as background" or "set as desktop background."