Published October 30, 2009 11:56 pm -
Prain, Wildcats defeat Tift 35-14
By Kyle Dean/Sports Editor
VALDOSTA — On Senior Night in Valdosta, Chad Prain was honored before the game.
After a 35-14 win Friday night, Prain should get plenty of honors from the Valdosta community.
Prain, filling in for starter DaShay March, ran for 107 yards on only six carries and three touchdowns in the Wildcats’ win.
Tift (2-7, 1-5) led 7-0 in the first quarter on a one-yard run by Micah McCant. McCant had a 19-yard run and a nine-yard run on back-to-back carries on the drive. After a McCant first down run to the 5-yard line, two offsides penalties moved the ball down to the 2-yard line. McCant scored his seventh rushing touchdown with 3:36 remaining in the first period. Griffin Martin’s PAT gave Tift a 7-0 lead.
The Tift touchdown drive came after a fumble by the Wildcats’ Malcolm Mitchell on a speed sweep.
Two drives later, Mitchell scored on a 29-yard run after a holding penalty backed Valdosta up 10 yards. Tift went three-and-out on their next posession, and the Cats took over on their own 34-yard line.
The Wildcats scored on three plays, extending their lead on a 55-yard touchdown run. Prain was untouched on a play where it appeared he would be sacked in the backfield for a big loss.
Zach Wang’s extra point was good, and Valdosta led 14-7 with 6:05 remaining in the half.
The Cats amassed 140 yards on the ground, but lost two fumbles to the Blue Devils.
Valdosta received the second half kickoff, and marched 68 yards on four plays. After two Brian Anderson runs gained 21 yards, Anderson took another handoff and gained six yards, where he was stripped by Tift’s Channing Yancey at the 25-yard line. The ball was then picked up by a Wildcat and fumbled again, where Prain alertly scooped up the ball and raced for a Valdosta touchdown. Wang’s extra point gave the Cats a 21-7 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Another long Valdosta drive gave the Wildcats a 28-7 lead with 5:40 remaining in the quarter. The big play was a Prain-to-Dontavis Sapp 50 yard pass. Reggie McQueen scored from three yards out to extend the lead.
Trailing 35-7 after Prain’s third TD run, the Blue Devils went 92 yards on seven plays. Malcolm Dixon hit Jakiel McCray on a 35-yard screen pass to put the ball inside Valdosta territory. On the next play, Dixon found Trent Hillman on a 37-yard bomb to give the Devils a first down on the five-yard line. Dixon scored on the next play on a five-yard run with 2:30 remaining in the game. Martin’s PAT ended the scoring, and the Cats won the game 35-14.
Dixon ended the game with 141 yards passing on 11-of-19, and negative 19 yards on the ground on 12 carries.
Valdosta (6-3, 3-3) will travel to Warner Robins to take on the Houston County Bears Friday, and will need a win and a Lowndes win over Warner Robins to secure the No. 4 seed out of Region 1-AAAAA.
In other region action, Warner Robins shocked Northside 21-20, Colquitt County defeated Houston 35-10 and Lowndes demolished Coffee 63-7.