Published Saturday, November 14, 2009
Indians run out of steam at Lowndes
The Newnan Times-Herald
VALDOSTA -- The No. 3 state-ranked Lowndes Vikings broke open a close game by scoring 35 unanswered points Friday night to defeat the East Coweta Indians 52-14 in their first round matchup of the AAAAA state playoffs at A.B. Miller Stadium.
The Indians ended their season with a 7-4 record while the Vikings will make the trek next week to Kingsland for a matchup with defending state champion Camden County with a 10-1 record.
"We gave it everything we had in the first half but Lowndes made adjustments and they just overwhelmed us," said Indians head coach Clint Wade. "They seemed to regain some swagger and they were very hard to stop after awhile."
It took a late touchdown in the first half from the Vikings, however, to escape East Coweta at halftime with a 17-7 lead after the Indians came closed to within a field goal following an 11-yard touchdown run.
East Coweta kicker Mikey Ziedler clanged a field-goal attempt off the crossbar in the first half as the Indians couldn't seem to catch an early break.
"That touchdown seemed to give us some momentum," Wade said. "It was too bad we missed the field goal but we still felt pretty good."
The Vikings used a 32-yard Khary Franklin punt return in the closing seconds to set up a key score with 16 seconds left and leading just 10-7. A drive that began at the Indians 43 ended quarterback Cole Parker found Aaron Winston for a 22-yard touchdown pass that allowed Lowndes to go to halftime ahead 17-7.
It didn't take much longer, however, to put the game out of reach to begin the second half.
The Vikings scored 18 seconds into the third quarter when Franklin found a spot in the Indians defense on the first play from scrimmage and raced 80 yards for a touchdown.
After holding the Indians on a three-and-out, the Vikings took over at their own 40 with 9:32 remaining and behind runs from Franklin, Braswell and Robert Anderson were able to move the ball to the Indians 36 yard line and got a break when Franklin and a fellow receiver collided on a play that was ruled a catch at the East Coweta goal line.
Franklin was able to complete the drive as he went into he end zone untouched with 2:36 remaining and the lead was 38-7 going into the fourth quarter.
Playing mostly substitutes in the latter stages of the game, the Vikings didn't stop scoring as a 36-yard completion highlighted a five-play series that ended when backup running back Sam Duncan scored on a one-yard run as play began in the fourth quarter.
The Indians would get a touchdown with 5:50 remaining in the game when senior quarterback Austin Ingram threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to K.J. Hill.
