A 10-win season and a quarterfinals berth almost appears to be the standard for Lowndes football. The Vikings are known for their winning ways by means of a hostile home environment and suffocating defense. It’s their identity. Yet, in 2021, Lowndes found success in the oddest of ways that didn’t always include the two main ingredients to their success.
Lowndes’s defense has historically been stellar. From 1994 to 2013, the Vikings only allowed over 200 points in a season once. It’s no surprise they won four of the school’s five state titles during that period of time. But last season Lowndes completely unraveled, allowing a school season record 369 points. That was the second-most points per game allowed out of all 64 GHSA quarterfinalists. The Vikings allowed a whopping 47 points to Lake Gibson (FL) and 49 points to the eventual state champion Collins Hill.
Oddly, both of those defensive collapses came at home, an environment known for its ability to torture opposing offenses. You’d have to go back all the way to 2016 to find a game in which Lowndes allowed at least 49 points at home (they defeated Hillgrove, 92-61).
The Vikings’ defense suffered several setbacks which almost cost them victories against Cedar Grove, Camden County, and Norcross, and if not for hometown Superman Jacurri Brown at quarterback, Lowndes might have lost several more games against mid-level opponents. With a margin of victory of only 6.3 points, this Lowndes football team was unlike any fans had ever seen. The vaunted Vikings defense of ages past just seemed to vanish.
It is virtually impossible to win at Martin Stadium as an opposing team. In the playoffs, it is doubly difficult. Only once since 2012 had the Vikings lost a home playoff game, and it came at the hands of a miraculous comeback by McEachern in 2017.
In 2021, the Vikings hosted Collins Hill in the state quarterfinals and were utterly demolished 49-7. That 42-point abomination was the largest margin of loss since a 1981 regular-season blowout at Bainbridge. To think this type of loss would come at home would be unfathomable to any Lowndes diehard. The Vikings also struggled in home games against Harrison, Norcross, and Cedar Grove, uncharacteristic of past seasons.
2021 was certainly an odd year for Lowndes football. Their normally stout defense suffered and the offense oftentimes had to score rapidly in order to win. The Vikings couldn’t seem to feed off the home crowd’s energy as they had throughout school history, and it felt as if Lowndes’ identity was lost at times last season. Now, only one question remains: Will Lowndes bounce back in 2022 and reestablish that South Georgia football can dominate the state with its trademark defense and hostility?
