Lowndes Dominates Golden Eagles
The fans who packed the Concrete Palace for Lowndes’ home season opener definitely weren’t disappointed watching the Vikings dominate Eagles Landing. The Vikings set the tone for the game early in the first quarter, with Adrian Hargett's 35-yard touchdown run. Lowndes struck the endzone again and again in the first half, going into halftime with a 39-7 lead. Hargett led the scoring in the 52-15 victory, with an outstanding four rushing touchdowns. The high-scoring win certainly brought back memories of Viking teams from the previous two years.
Eagles Landing got the ball on their own 20-yard line after Lowndes’ first score. The powerful defense contained the Golden Eagles, who could only manage one yard on the series. Greg Reid returned the Eagles Landing punt to the Eagles 35. Greg Anderson then took off to the endzone on the first play of the drive, putting another Viking touchdown on the board. QB Christian Glisson swept around the left end to take the ball into the endzone on the fake PAT.
Chris Stinson blocked the Golden Eagles’ next punt, giving Lowndes the ball only 24 yards away from the endzone. The offensive line, which blasted huge holes in the defense all night, punched a hole for the wingback. Hargett then followed his blocks around to the right side for his second touchdown run.
Lowndes defense was a force to be reckoned with all night, holding the Eagles to only 95 yards and forcing two interceptions. One of those interceptions came courtesy of Greg Reid on the Golden Eagle’s third drive. Lowndes wasn’t able to capitalize on that turnover however, as the Vikings threw an interception. Eagles Landing returned the ball to the LHS 11, and began to press on to the endzone. On first-and-goal on the one yard line, the Eagle running back surged over the top, but appeared to be stopped by the Lowndes defense. Nonetheless, the touchdown was called, and the Golden Eagles got their first score of the night, making the game 22-7 with 10:31 remaining in the second quarter.
Glisson tossed a 12 yard pass to Darriett Perry early in the second quarter, placing the ball at the 14-yard line. After a few quick runs by Perry, Hargett took the ball in the final 3 yards. Hargett ended up with a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, as he also racked up an 11-yard TD run with 3:31 remaining. Kicker Matt Rowland tacked on the extra points on both touchdowns.
With less than a minute remaining in the half, Glisson fired a 24-yard pass to Kelly Dawsey. Rowland then booted a 32-yard field goal on first down to close out the first half.
The Golden Eagle coach accepted the mercy rule, so the running clock was in effect from the third quarter on. On Eagles Landing’s first play, Greg Reid picked off their pass, giving Lowndes the ball on their own 26. The Vikings then launched off a clock-killing 74-yard touchdown drive. Perry King sped downfield for a 52-yard touchdown run during the drive, but it was called back on a penalty. The drive culminated with sophomore Hayden Martin’s three-yard touchdown dash, giving the Vikings a 46-7 lead. Lowndes began to substitute freely in the second half, and the Viking reserves held up very well against the Golden Eagle varsity.
As the final quarter winded down, Eagles Landing put a second touchdown on the board thanks to a sweep around the left end. The Eagles made a successful two-point conversion with 4:28 remaining in the game for a 46-15 score. Sophomore Josh Miles ended the scoring for the Vikings by smashing in a 6-yard touchdown with 34 seconds on the clock. The Vikings showed that they mean business this year with their crushing 52-15 defeat over the Golden Eagles.
