We ’ re going to be exciting , we ’ re going to hit on a couple of big balls but there ’ s going to be kids that step up and make a play when they ’ ve got to make a play and hopefully it ’ s going to be a very physical brand of football .
Curtain ’ s decline but the biggest culprit was the massive loss in experience after losing stars Thomas Davis , T . J . Quinn , Jacques Hunter , Leon Williams and Dominique Marshall to graduation .
Returning only three starters on that side of the ball forced a lot of players into bigger roles and a trial by fire for much of the Vikings ’ defensive unit .
However , with bigger roles and responsibilities comes valuable experience .
“ I ’ m excited to see how quickly we can get back on it . We put pads on Aug . 1 , getting ready for that first game ,” Grage said . “ I do think we were extremely physical in that ( spring ) game against Tift . There ’ s gonna be some growing pains back there , but they ’ re working as hard as they can . We have our players weight room ; our guys that are going to contribute this year on Friday nights , and then our developmental weight room where we ’ re going to try to get those guys ready to play at the end of the season and next year .
With Thomas , Tomlin , Evans , Carter and Davis , the Vikings boast a deep and talented unit at corner and safety with promising sophomores that Grage expects to come in and produce as well .
While the Vikings are Region 1-7A mainstays , the region got a major shake-up in the offseason .
Lowndes welcomes crosstown rival Valdosta back into their region , along with Richmond Hill next to rival Colquitt County and Camden next season .
But before the Vikings tackle region play , they ’ ll be tested with a stiff non-region slate . Lowndes opens the season at home Aug . 20 against American Heritage followed by Florida schools Gadsden County ( Aug . 27 ) and North Miami Beach ( Sept . 2 ).
“ Now , as much as we ’ ll let everybody else talk about who the opponent is that ’ s gonna show up on Friday night , I think we ’ re going to still buy in to the deal of American Heritage is coming in that first week then you ’ re looking Gadsden and then you ’ ve got East Coweta and Grayson and North Miami Beach then Dunbar ’ s Homecoming right in the middle of region , which is awesome .”
The Vikings go on the road to face East Coweta Sept . 16 before hosting 7A powerhouse Grayson Sept . 23 to close out the majority of their non-region schedule .
From there , the Vikings will have an open week before hosting the Valdosta Wildcats in the Winnersville Classic . The next week , Dunbar ( Fla .) comes to town for Homecoming Oct . 14 . The Vikings round out the regular season with region opponents as they travel to Colquitt Oct . 21 followed by a home game against Richmond Hill Oct . 28 and a road game at Camden Nov . 4 . “ If we can sit there and watch tape and focus on our guys and look back , I ’ m a firm believer that a lot of high school games are lost . Very few of them are actually won or two teams play great . Usually , as a coach , you come in Saturday morning and say it was that fumble or that lack of third-down execution or that red zone opportunity we didn ’ t take advantage of ,” Grage said . “ We want to go take advantage of all those . The schedule ’ s going to be crazy . I ’ m just excited to get all the people in the stands and actually feel the big time Friday night lights at Martin Stadium . We ’ re going to be exciting , we ’ re going to hit on a couple of big balls but there ’ s going to be kids that step up and make a play when they ’ ve got to make a play and hopefully it ’ s going to be a very physical brand of football .
“ We ’ re going to be dealing with some adversity , riding those highs and lows but just make sure no matter who ’ s across that field , if we take care of our business and we play as hard as we can and as well as we can in those basic fundamentals that nobody else likes to do , that ’ s what we ’ ve got to be about and then hopefully in the end , we come out on the right side of the scoreboard .” n
32 2022 SOUTH GEORGIA FOOTBALL