Warner Robins picks up where it left off, hammers Valdosta in Macon Touchdown Club Middle Georgia Kickoff Classic

Warner Robins players hammed it up for the cameras while a trophy presentation was attempted.

Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Just four minutes into the 2021 season, Warner Robins had fumbled the ball away on its third offense play, and watched a punt snap bounce and a punt get blocked for a scoop-and-score touchdown by Valdosta.

          The Wildcats no doubt were giddy at such a start, considering the news-heavy offseason that put them in the national news.

          It didn’t last.

          Malcolm Brown ran, Christon Lane passed, Jafredrick Perry big-played, and the defense was steady as Warner Robins rolled to a 48-20 win over Valdosta in the Macon Touchdown Club Middle Georgia Kickoff Classic nightcap at Mercer.

          Brown ran tougher than his 5-11, 185-pound frame, mostly pounding between the tackles for 128 yards on 33 carries, with a pair of rushing touchdowns to go with a receiving score.

          The second was a head’s up play, when Lane bobbled a snap, it rolled in front of him, and Brown picked it up and charged in from 4 yards out.

          That capped the scoring for the Demons, who also got three touchdowns from Perry, including a dazzling 59-yard putn return in which he channeled Herschel Walker steamrolling Bill Bates when he posterized a Wildcat defender at the 37 right in front of the Demons’ bench.

          Still …

          “Early in the season, a lot of miscues on the field,” Warner Robins head coach Marquis Westbrook said after beating his high school teammate, Shelton Felton. “Some stuff that we gotta  gotta to correct on special teams, as expected.”

          A 28-yard return of the blocked punt put Valdosta up 7-0 with 8:04 left in the first, and Warner Robins didn’t answer for five minutes, and then missed the PAT.

          Four plays into the second quarter, Perry went through a nice hole for a 40-yard hardly-touched score, and the Demons went up 13-7.

          Valdosta’s fourth three-and-punt followed, and Warner Robins needed four plays for a body blow, Daveon Walker coming down with a nice catch for a 36-yard score.

The Demons clicked pretty well in all phases for a season opener against a Class 6A power.

Video: Michael A. Lough/The Central Georgia Sports Report

          The Wildcat’s next three-and-out preceded an eight-play, 40-yard drive capped by Brown’s 4-yard score, and keyed by Brown’s 10-yarder on fourth and four  Duece Petty’s nice leaping catch for 14 yards on second and nine.

          Warner Robins seemed destined to take that 27-7 lead into the locker room, but Valdosta quarterback Joseph Gardner came big late.

          Flushed to the left, he set and fired downfield for a 61-yard gain to Chris Wolfe, then drilling a strike to Nevin Spivey for a 4-yard score with 14 seconds left.

          “In the locker room at halftime, we were still on pins and needles, because they took the momentum,” Westbrook said. “We couldn’t relax.

          So much for momentum.

          The Wildcats drove to open the third quarter, but failed on fourth down, the Demons then missing a field goal.

          Warner Robins forced another three-and-punt, and Petty took the kick on the run and blasted down the right side, flattening a Wildcat along the way for a 59-yard score.

          Then came rare missteps.

          The Demons did nothing with Chaz Sturn’s interception, and then they fumbled the next three-and-out punt. The Wildcats then clicked on a double-reverse pass to Gardner to pull within 34-20 with 1:26 left in the third.

          Warner Robins dealt the knockout punch with a 10-play scoring drive, highlighted by 17 plucking a pass for 22 yards on third and 20 and then Walker with a leaping grab for 37 yards.

          In went Perry from the 5 for a 41-20 lead.

          Westbrook thought conditioning on a muggy night would be an issue, and it was, with several Demons cramping up only for other Demons to fill in.

          “I’m proud of the way our guys finished,” Westbrook said after his team outgained Valdosta 459-214. “We established the ground game, and Christon Lane did a good job dividing the ball up between the receivers.

          “And our defense, they stood the test.”