VALDOSTA — LAKELAND — The Lanier County Bulldogs continue to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Bulldogs beat the Telfair County Trojans 28-7 Friday night at Roquemore Field.

The Bulldogs knew they needed a victory to stay in the Region 2-A playoff race, and they got it.

Lanier’s Dedrick McGriff rushed for 184 yards on 27 carries, which put him over 1,000 yards on the season.

Lanier County scored on its first drive of the game, taking less than four minutes to get on the board. That drive was capped off when Dedrick McGriff took a pitch and raced 16 yards for a touchdown.

Then Lanier County’s defense, led by defensive end Junior Gnonkonde, who has verbally committed to Georgia Tech, forced the Trojans to punt. The Bulldogs got the ball back, and drove for another score. McGriff rushed for 38 yards on the next drive, including a 6-yard rushing touchdown, which doubled Lanier’s lead to 14-0 in the second quarter.

Telfair had trouble slowing down Lanier’s running game, which was led by McGriff and senior Tobbie Locklear.

“They are the backbone of what we do,” Lanier head coach Brent Miller said. “We did what we had to do.”

Locklear would score on a 4-yard touchdown run in the middle of the second quarter, giving the Bulldogs a three-touchdown lead, 21-0.

Near the end of the first half, the Trojans’ offense drove into the red zone for the first time.

But Locklear ended the drive when he intercepted Telfair quarterback Kevin Clark’s pass at Lanier’s 10-yard line.

On the first play of the third quarter, Telfair running back Abraham Freeman raced 73 yards for a touchdown.

Freeman finished the game with 108 yards rushing.

Lanier put the game out of reach with an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

The Bulldogs will face Bacon County next week, trying to earn a playoff berth.

“We’re just trying to extend and keep it going. I’m very happy,” Lanier quarterback Jovan Smith said.

LAKELAND — For the second consecutive week, the Lanier County Bulldogs picked up a victory in non-region football play.

This week, it was a 39-16 win over the Berrien Rebels.

The game was tied at halftime, but the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Rebels 26-3, largely because of the play of junior quarterback Jovan Smith.

Smith helped the Bulldogs pick up over 400 yards of offense on the night, racking up 129 yards on the ground and 54 yards passing. Smith accounted for a first half passing touchdown and three second half rushing touchdowns.  

For his efforts, Smith has been named The Valdosta Daily Times’ Player of the Week.

“I think Jovan took control of the ball game,” Lanier County head coach Brent Miller said. “He made some big runs for us, and he threw the ball real good in the first half. I was proud of the night he had, and he has to keep working. Things are going to get even better for him. He is only a junior.”

Smith found Junior Gnonkonde for a 21-yard touchdown pass in the opening half.

Then he scored on the first play of the second half, when he broke a 56-yard run, giving Lanier a 19-13 lead.

“First home game of the year, and I felt like I had to (go) out there and show out,” Smith said. “Coach told us to go out there and have a good game, and that we were going to run the option a little bit and to go out there and break one, so I did.”

Two drives later, Smith extended Lanier’s lead to nine when he dashed into the end zone on a three-yard quarterback sneak.

Smith’s final score of the night came with less than a minute left, adding to an already large Bulldog lead, when he scored on a 12-yard run, giving Lanier the 39-16 advantage.

Smith and the 2-0 Lanier County Bulldogs open region play Friday night, when they host Class A powerhouse Charlton County.

VALDOSTA —

LAKELAND — The Lanier County Bulldogs took care of business in their 2011 home opener on Friday night, defeating the Berrien Rebels, 39-16.

With a tied game at halftime, Lanier County pulled away, outscoring Berrien 26-3 in the second half.

“We went in at the half, and we still knew we were doing things wrong. We’re a young football team and we made a few adjustments,” Lanier County head coach Brent Miller said. “We made some early mistakes and got them corrected and the Good Lord blessed us and we just kept rolling.”

Lanier County quarterback Jovan Smith threw for a first half touchdown, and added 129 yards on the ground, with three second half rushing touchdowns, to lead the Bulldogs (2-0) offensively.

“First home game of the year, and I felt like I had to come out here and show out,” Smith said after the game. “Coach really got us pumped up in the locker room and he told us to come out and have a good game.”

Smith started the second half out with a bang, scoring on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, when he broke loose down the left sideline for a 56-yard touchdown run.

After Berrien (0-2) answered back with a field goal, and after the two teams swapped punts, Smith extended the Bulldogs’ lead to nine, when he scored on a three-yard quarterback sneak.

After a Tobbie Locklear touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, which seemed to ice the game, Smith added a final-minute 12-yard rushing touchdown to give the Bulldogs the 39-16 advantage.

“I think Jovan took over the ball game,” Miller said of his junior quarterback. “He made some big runs for us and he threw the ball well in the first half. He just needs to keep on working on things, (and things) will get better for him.”

Along with Smith, the Bulldogs saw a huge chunk of their 401 yards of offense come from senior running back Dedrick McGriff. Despite not scoring a touchdown on the night, McGriff picked up 124 yards on a team-high 20 carries.

The two teams scored on four straight possessions to account for all the first half scoring, which got started when Lanier County senior Anthony Edmond broke a school record with a 94-yard punt return for a score.

The Rebels wasted little time answering back, driving 56 yards on just seven plays, as Devonte Bass scored on an 11-yard run, which was set up by a fourth down pass by sophomore quarterback Taylor Griner just two plays earlier.

On their next possession, the Bulldogs took a seven-point lead, driving 76 yards on eight plays. The Bulldogs found the end zone on a 21-yard pass from Smith to senior tight end Junior Gnonkonde.

The Rebel offense ended the first half scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run by Griner, after the Rebels moved 58 yards down the field in just four plays, thanks to a 45-yard run by Bass.

For Berrien, Bass led the way, picking up 91 yards on the ground. The Rebels accounted for 287 yards of offense on the night, although 191 of those yards came in the opening half.

Lanier County opens region play next Friday, when it hosts Charlton County, while Berrien will host Brantley County.