No. 8 Valdosta kicks off postseason at No. 10 Westlake

Nov. 12—VALDOSTA — The second season is finally here.

The No. 8 Valdosta Wildcats (8-2, 2-2 Region 1-7A) travel to Atlanta to face the tenth-ranked Westlake Lions (7-3, 3-1 Region 2-7A) in the first round of the Class 7A state playoffs Saturday evening.

The 'Cats return to the postseason after serving a one-year ban last season as part of sanctions against the football program in the aftermath of alleged recruiting violations by former coach Rush Propst.

According to 'Cats head coach Shelton Felton, getting an opportunity to play in the postseason is a special opportunity.

"It's always an honor to be in the playoffs, but not everybody makes it," Felton said Friday afternoon. "There's 32 teams in 7A football that make the playoffs. To be one of them is always an honor and it's one of the goals you work for in the offseason. You can't win a state championship if you don't make the playoffs. We're thrilled and excited about the opportunity to play."

Fresh off of an open week, the 'Cats look to make a run after a disappointing end to the regular season that saw them drop two consecutive games and fumble the region championship to rival Colquitt County two weeks ago.

While Felton didn't divulge much in terms of the injury report, Felton believes his team is as healthy as it can get at this point in the season. The 'Cats will have offensive tackle Jalen Burgess back after suffering a sprained knee against Colquitt.

"We're as healthy as you can be. We're still missing some key parts on our offensive end on the offensive line, a receiver, a tight end that probably won't be able to play tomorrow but that's why we try to work hard and train the young guys so it's a next man up mentality. They've got to be able to play. Nobody's 100% this time of year, but we're just unlucky that a lot of our main guys went out towards the end of the season. It's going to hurt us a little bit, but we've got to find ways to work around it."

The Lions come into the playoffs off of two strong victories to close the regular season — blowing out East Coweta 48-27 on the road and throttling Campbell 56-14 last Friday on Senior Night.

The Lions average 35.1 points per game with a defense that allows 17.9 points on average — good for the second-best offense and defense behind region champion Carrollton in Region 2-7A.

Senior quarterback RJ Johnson has thrown for 1,320 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His backup and top receiving target, sophomore Jabari Jones, has completed 9 of 20 passes for 80 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Senior running back Jaiden Thomas leads the charge with 845 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, according to MaxPreps. Out wide, the Lions have five receivers that have at least 122 yards led by Jones' 25 catches for 428 yards and six touchdowns on the year. Thomas also factors into the passing game as he's second on the team with 250 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

Defensively, the Lions have eight interceptions and six fumble recoveries so takeaways should be an area to watch for the 'Cats, who have struggled with turnovers in recent weeks.

The strength of the Lions' rests in their athleticism — more specifically, their speed — as well as their depth.

"Speed," Felton said when asked what stands out when he sees Westlake on film. "Rico Zackery does a great job on defense. They're very fast. They play a lot of man-to-man. They bring a lot of pressure, a lot of zero and man and they're in your face. They're coming to get you with an aggressive defense.

"On offense, they have playmakers. They do a good job of throwing it around. I think our biggest challenge is going to be the speed and the depth they have on both sides of the ball."

The 'Cats will be looking to get back on track offensively after lackluster showings the last two weeks of the season.

Against Colquitt, the run game the 'Cats relied on all year was rendered ineffective — producing just 59 yards on 34 carries en route to producing a season-low 6 points. The 24 points the defense allowed was a season-high.

Felton said he and his staff have tinkered and moved some players around in spots to counteract the losses the team has suffered due to injuries ahead of Saturday's playoff opener.

"We're moving some people around, trying to put some playmakers in the position to have the opportunity to make plays," Felton said. "The biggest thing that we've preached all year is that if we can execute and be detailed and do the little things right, we can find ways to get in the end zone. We've tried a couple of different things on offense, a couple new wrinkles going into the playoffs that we think can help us score some points.

"It's hard when you're down playmakers and down a lot of people. We're not going to make any excuses. We're going to find ways to score as long as our defense keeps playing great and giving us a chance to win the game."

Kickoff for Saturday's playoff game is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Shane Thomas is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.