By Noah Feit
North Augusta (2-0) vs. Valdosta (0-0)
at North Gwinnett High School
in the National Football Challenge
Last time they played
This is the first meeting between the teams.
Players to watch
North Augusta
• DeVonte Pressley, RB. Pressley's done a great job filling the shoes of Vinny Miller rushing for 278 yards and four touchdowns in two games, but he'll have to turn a great performance to help the Yellow Jackets dominate possession of the ball.
• Trey Morgan, DB/WR/KR. Morgan might be North Augusta's most dynamic player and the coaching staff will try to get him the ball in positions where he can break free for big gains.
• Kris Howard, LB. The 5-foot-11 junior is one of the Yellow Jackets top tacklers and will have to continue making sure tackles after flying to the ball to keep them in this game.
Valdosta
• Shelby Wilkes, QB. The senior signal caller played seven games last season, passing for 1,388 yards and 15 touchdowns.
• Malcolm Joseph, Nelson Herring, RB. The juniors will share the load at tailback after combining for 1,095 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.
• Chuntony Johnson, DT. The third-year starter is one of only three returning starters on the defense but was the Wildcats Most Improved Player last season and North Augusta head coach Dan Pippin said Johnson runs like a deer.
What this means
This is Valdosta's first game of the season, but much more than that, this game is part of the televised National Football Challenge at North Gwinnett High School. It's an opportunity for both programs to let a potential national audience know what they're all about and what football means to their portion of the country. Valdosta has done that to a certain degree as a perennial powerhouse that's currently ranked No. 9 in Georgia's Class AAAAAA and won the Region 1-AAAAA championship in 2011. North Augusta has established itself as an elite program in South Carolina but can spread it's brand well beyond the borders of the Palmetto State.
"We're playing one of the most storied programs in the country. It's a great challenge and a great opportunity," said Pippin. "No matter what happens, it will help us in the long run. We're not backing down from the big boys. I can't wait, it's going to be great. I love it and am so excited I couldn't sleep the other night."
Keys to the game
North Augusta normally plays at as fast of a pace as possible, but will try to slow the game down today. The reason behind the move is to try and keep the ball away from Valdosta as much as possible.
"Our gameplan is to control the clock and keep them off the field," Pippin said. "We need to get first downs and burn the clock."
The hope is that playing keep away will keep the Jackets in contention late into the game. Should that work, it's possible it could cause the Wildcats to become unnerved while boosting North Augusta's belief in winning. To accomplish this, it will need a superlative performance from both its offensive and defensive lines. The defense must slow down Valdosta's West Coast offense and be sound in execution. That means sure tackling and no penalties.
North Augusta's quarterback combo of Cody Turner and Trib Reece will try and exploit the Wildcats 4-3 defense, that is mostly inexperienced, especially in the secondary where it has three new starters. But Valdosta is sure to be prepared under the tutelage of head coach Rance Gillespie. He has gone 19-5 in two seasons at Valdosta, previously winning two state titles at Peach County in 2005 and 2006. In between, Gillespie was the offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern from 2007-09.
What they're saying
"This is one of the best teams we'll ever see, but we're not going there to lose. It's kind of a David vs. Goliath scenario, but we don't have anything to lose and it's a great honor for our program." - Dan Pippin, North Augusta head coach
Noah Feit is the Sports Editor for the Aiken Standard and has been a professional journalist for more than a dozen years after graduating from Syracuse University.![]()
North Augusta (2-0) vs. Valdosta (0-0)
at North Gwinnett High School
in the National Football Challenge
Last time they played
This is the first meeting between the teams.
Players to watch
North Augusta
• DeVonte Pressley, RB. Pressley's done a great job filling the shoes of Vinny Miller rushing for 278 yards and four touchdowns in two games, but he'll have to turn a great performance to help the Yellow Jackets dominate possession of the ball.
• Trey Morgan, DB/WR/KR. Morgan might be North Augusta's most dynamic player and the coaching staff will try to get him the ball in positions where he can break free for big gains.
• Kris Howard, LB. The 5-foot-11 junior is one of the Yellow Jackets top tacklers and will have to continue making sure tackles after flying to the ball to keep them in this game.
Valdosta
• Shelby Wilkes, QB. The senior signal caller played seven games last season, passing for 1,388 yards and 15 touchdowns.
• Malcolm Joseph, Nelson Herring, RB. The juniors will share the load at tailback after combining for 1,095 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.
• Chuntony Johnson, DT. The third-year starter is one of only three returning starters on the defense but was the Wildcats Most Improved Player last season and North Augusta head coach Dan Pippin said Johnson runs like a deer.
What this means
This is Valdosta's first game of the season, but much more than that, this game is part of the televised National Football Challenge at North Gwinnett High School. It's an opportunity for both programs to let a potential national audience know what they're all about and what football means to their portion of the country. Valdosta has done that to a certain degree as a perennial powerhouse that's currently ranked No. 9 in Georgia's Class AAAAAA and won the Region 1-AAAAA championship in 2011. North Augusta has established itself as an elite program in South Carolina but can spread it's brand well beyond the borders of the Palmetto State.
"We're playing one of the most storied programs in the country. It's a great challenge and a great opportunity," said Pippin. "No matter what happens, it will help us in the long run. We're not backing down from the big boys. I can't wait, it's going to be great. I love it and am so excited I couldn't sleep the other night."
Keys to the game
North Augusta normally plays at as fast of a pace as possible, but will try to slow the game down today. The reason behind the move is to try and keep the ball away from Valdosta as much as possible.
"Our gameplan is to control the clock and keep them off the field," Pippin said. "We need to get first downs and burn the clock."
The hope is that playing keep away will keep the Jackets in contention late into the game. Should that work, it's possible it could cause the Wildcats to become unnerved while boosting North Augusta's belief in winning. To accomplish this, it will need a superlative performance from both its offensive and defensive lines. The defense must slow down Valdosta's West Coast offense and be sound in execution. That means sure tackling and no penalties.
North Augusta's quarterback combo of Cody Turner and Trib Reece will try and exploit the Wildcats 4-3 defense, that is mostly inexperienced, especially in the secondary where it has three new starters. But Valdosta is sure to be prepared under the tutelage of head coach Rance Gillespie. He has gone 19-5 in two seasons at Valdosta, previously winning two state titles at Peach County in 2005 and 2006. In between, Gillespie was the offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern from 2007-09.
What they're saying
"This is one of the best teams we'll ever see, but we're not going there to lose. It's kind of a David vs. Goliath scenario, but we don't have anything to lose and it's a great honor for our program." - Dan Pippin, North Augusta head coach
Noah Feit is the Sports Editor for the Aiken Standard and has been a professional journalist for more than a dozen years after graduating from Syracuse University.