Blocking Out the Noise: 'Cats impress in spring game win over Greyhounds

May 17—GRAY, Ga. — With an offseason rife with turmoil off the field, the Valdosta Wildcats finally got the opportunity to show what they can do on the field Saturday.

The 'Cats showed well as they defeated the Jones County Greyhounds 42-27 in Saturday night's spring game.

"It was a great feeling, man — banging up against each other, you get to cut loose and see what you can do and see the young guys run around," Valdosta interim coach Shelton Felton said. "Some of the older guys, you kind of know what they can do from last season, but it was good to see them play football and do what they were born and raised to do really at Valdosta."

A one-yard touchdown run by Tristan Lancaster pushed the lead to 42-27 with 3:41 left in the game — capping a dominant running performance by Valdosta on Saturday.

Though he left the game early with an injury, starting running back Jaylin Berrian broke several long runs, including one down the left side that led to the team's first score of the night.

After forcing the Greyhounds three-and-out, starting quarterback Sam Brown finished the drive by connecting with receiver Jalen Whitehead on a short pass in the red zone with 8:26 left in the first quarter.

Throughout the game, the 'Cats were able to run the ball effectively. The past two seasons, the team struggled to run the ball early on before finding some semblance of form in time for region play.

On Saturday, Felton saw his team execute and dictate play on the ground.

"That's been the whole theme during the spring," Felton said. "We're going to establish the run game and we're going to be a running team. That's been the goal all spring. No matter what they give us, run the ball. We want to run the ball 30 times. Today, I don't know how many times we carried the ball, but our goal's at least 30."

While the offense looked promising and productive, the defense showed some flaws — particularly in the passing game as they allowed three passing touchdowns and another long pass downfield.

Despite the issues defending the pass, the defense did well to stifle its fair share of Jones County offensive drives.

"We played a lot of young guys," Felton said, alluding to the fact that there were players out due to track and field obligations. "We had some guys miss because of track, some guys missing for other reasons, but we played a lot of young guys back there and a lot of things, we didn't show our hand."

A position to watch this season will be the team's receiving corps. Returning senior Willie Almond, Whitehead and upcoming junior Khlon Johnson each had touchdowns on Saturday.

Almond's touchdown put Valdosta ahead 21-13 before a score by the Greyhounds made it a 21-20 game with 9:16 left in the third quarter.

Johnson's touchdown came on the next Valdosta drive as he found the end zone with 6:26 left in the third to extend the lead to 28-20.

The Greyhounds responded with a 20-yard touchdown catch by freshman Tyler Stewart that cut the Valdosta lead to 28-27 midway through the fourth quarter.

Stewart's score would be the closest the Greyhounds would get the rest of the way as Ahmad Denson broke a short reception into a long touchdown to make it a 35-27 Valdosta lead with 3:26 remaining.

With everything the team has gone through with the sanctions imposed by the GHSA and the non-renewal and possible reconsideration of head coach Rush Propst, Felton says the focus for the team has been on what the players can control versus what they cannot.

"The biggest thing is this, and we've said this all along, control the controllables," Felton said. "You can't control what's going on outside. The only things you can control is what you do in that schoolhouse, that classroom, that weight room and that field. We've just blocked all the noise out and try to stay together as a family and just play good football."

With the spring ending on a high note, Felton and the 'Cats will now turn their attention to the summer. According to Felton, the summer slate will consist of 7-on-7 scrimmages and organized team activities (OTAs).

"We plan to get a lot of 7-on-7s, try to get our kids to camps to get exposure," Felton said of the summer schedule. "We'll just build off this thing and do some house inventory and evaluate every player and see how we can put them in the right position to be successful. That's our game plan going into (the summer)."