Vikings shut down Bears, 35-0

WARNER ROBINS �" The Lowndes Vikings showed no ill effects of a two week break from the gridiron, as they methodically wore down the Houston County Bears Friday night at McConnell-Talbert Stadium in their first game since the Winnersville Classic.
Lowndes ' offense scored on three straight possessions in the first half to take a 21-0 lead and the defense held Region 1-AAAAA's leading rusher Robert Williams to 73 yards on 24 carries.
The Vikings won the game 35-0 and improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Region 1. The Bears fell to 3-5 overall and 0-5 in the region.
“I'm proud of our kids. They played hard,” Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said. “Defensively we got the shutout. Offensively we had a couple of turnovers, but other than that I was proud of the way we played.”
Lowndes took the opening kickoff and marched down the field on its first drive. However, Troy Braswell fumbled on the Houston County 5 yard line and the Bears recovered the ball in the end zone.
The Bears wouldn't stop the Vikings from scoring on their three drives.
Geraldo Orta capped off a 53-yard drive in the middle of the first quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0.
Tyler Hunter scored on a 4-yard run on Lowndes ' next drive to make it 14-0.
Braswell redeemed himself with a 14-yard catch for a touchdown in the second quarter to make it 21-0.
The Vikings took a three touchdown lead into the half and never looked back.
Houston County only had two legitimate scoring chances. The Bears reached the Vikings' 10 yard line in the second quarter, but quarterback Tyler Hall over threw his receiver and Orta nabbed the interception in the end zone.
The Vikings held on for their second shutout of the season with a great defensive stand late in the fourth quarter. The Bears used a 22-play drive to march to Lowndes ' 8-yard line, but Kenneth Durden blocked the Bears' field goal attempt on fourth down.
“We didn't let them score,” McPherson said. “I'm proud of the kids for that. We started playing a bunch of kids and were still able to get the shutout.”
The Bears only managed 181 yards of offense on 51 plays, an average of 3.55 yards per play.
Because of Houston County's long drive and a running clock in the fourth quarter, the Vikings only had three possessions on offense in the second half. They scored rushing touchdowns on two of the possessions, and the second-string offense turned the ball over on downs on the third possession.
The Vikings used nine different ball carriers who combined for 265 rushing yards on 39 attempts. Robert Anderson led the Vikings with 81 yards on 12 carries.
Orta continued his outstanding play. The junior touched the ball three times in the game. He scored two touchdowns on his only two carries and intercepted the ball in the end zone on his other touch.
Cole Parker completed 2-of-7 passes for 39 yards and a touchdown.
The Vikings racked up 304 yards of total offense.
Lowndes will return to Martin Stadium next Friday night to take on the Coffee Trojans.