CHULA — District 3-3A has a new champion. Friday night saw Tiftarea Academy come from behind to defeat Valwood, 28-21, to earn their first title since 2018.

The Panthers racked up an unofficial 450 total yards while holding Valwood to 320. The Valiants had 234 on the ground, all by Braylon Neal.

J.R. Walker led a three-pronged Tiftarea ground attack, which also featured Kaiden Richardson and Caden Grier. It was his arm, however, that provided the spark for the Panthers to turn the game in their favor.

Asher Wells threw for a touchdown on the Valiants’ first possession of the second half to Mason Corbett, boosting what had been a 14-13 Valwood halftime lead to 21-13 with Tommy Marrero’s point-after.

Tiftarea responded with a drive to the visitors’ 13, but lost it on downs. Braylon Neal seemed like he was literally going to run away with the game and the Panthers’ district hopes, when he rumbled for 17 and 32 yards, getting the Valiants to the 36.

But Kentorial Wimberly made a touchdown-saving tackle on that second run and something clicked with the Panthers. Neal got only six on his next two attempts combined and a penalty put the Valiants far behind the sticks. They punted to the 4.

Walker got them out of that hole with a nine-yard run on first down, Richardson moving the sticks on second.

At the 16, Walker dropped back to pass and saw John Jackson running down the sideline on a fly route. Jackson made a contested catch, shook off a Valwood defender and sprinted 84 yards for a touchdown.

Down two at 21-19, head coach Erik Soliday reached into his bag of tricks. Walker tossed backwards to Richardson, who threw back to Walker for an easy two-point conversion. The contest was now tied and trending Tiftarea.

Neal’s runs began going backwards. Valwood had to punt out after three downs, the Panthers taking over at the 34.

Now in the groove, Walker galloped for 51 yards on his next two touches, all the way down to the 15. His next run got six, then he tiptoed through the Valiants’ defense for a nine-yard touchdown.

Finally back in the lead, Harrison Powell made it a seven-point advantage with his extra point kick.

Valwood needed yards and it needed points. The next drive did neither. Temond Marcus smothered Neal in the backfield for a three-yard loss. The following two downs got only a yard back. Worse, the punt from the 25 netted only 16 yards when it took a friendly roll.

Soliday and company chewed up more clock on six straight Walker runs. They stalled at the 14, then missed a field goal, but time was getting short.

Wells hit Cort Kurrie to pick up a third down at midfield. A heave to Corbett gained another 20. The clock was ticking, faster and faster. Valwood had to hurry and telegraphed a pass. Jackson undercut the route and ended the Valiants’ dreams with an interception.

Valwood stopped the clock twice, but couldn’t stop Walker. He got a first down at the 45, allowing the Panthers to kneel twice in victory formation.

Tiftarea is now 9-1, quite a turnaround from the last two years. Two seasons ago, they outlasted Valwood for their sole win in a 1-9 campaign. Last year, they were 3-8-1 after an 0-5-1 start. However, things were coming together at the end of the year, which saw them win over St. Andrew’s in the first round of state.

This year has been a giant leap forward. The Panthers are undefeated at home in 2024 and their sole loss was by seven points on an extremely wet field at Westfield. The Hornets were just ahead of them in the power rankings Friday.

The regular season finale was a makeup of a game postponed by Hurricane Helene. Though Tiftarea’s campus never lost power, Valwood’s area was damaged extensively.

Friday began with a 13-play, 76-yard Tiftarea drive, ending in a nine-yard touchdown run by — who else? — Walker. Powell gave them a 7-0 lead with his kick.

Valwood didn’t take long to tie. Riding the legs of Neal at the start, Wells, finished it off with a 43-yard scoring pass for a 7-7 tie.

Walker was insanely elusive all night.

At the Valiant 36 early in the second frame, the Valiants thought they finally had him sacked in the backfield, but he spun out of that and fired to Jackson for a 32-yard pickup to reach the 4.

The following play lost a yard, but Walker pushed his way through the middle for a five-yard touchdown. The kick failed making for a narrow 13-7 advantage.

Neal made the lead short-lived.

The second snap of Valwood’s drive went to him and he burst through tacklers for a 59-yard touchdown. The kick meant the Valiants were ahead 14-13. That score held the remainder of the half.

Walker completed half of his passes, 6 of 12, for 155 yards and a touchdown. Most came on the TD pass to Jackson, who had three receptions for 129 yards.

Tiftarea gashed Valwood for 321 yards on the ground. Walker had 214, with Richardson at 62 and Grier with 45. Brody Seagraves had a team-high nine tackles.