Jackets cling to title hopes
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, October 24, 2006
The Vincent Yellow Jackets staged a fourth quarter comeback to defeat Falkville 20-14 at home last Friday night and to remain tied for first place in 2A Region 5 football.
At 5-1 in region play and locked in a tie with J.B. Pennington, the Jackets are now one win away from claiming the region title.
The Jackets were down 14-0 before coming back to make it a 14-6 ball game at the half.
Brett Frizzell took an 11-yard pass from Octavius Looney to put the Jackets on the scoreboard. The a 2-point play failed.
Collin Spradley garnered two more points for the Jackets when he caused a safety against Falkville in the third quarter.
Those two points would later prove to be huge.
Down 14-8 in the fourth quarter, the Jackets scored on a 10-yard pass from Corey DeLoach to Cody Brown and a 9-yard pass from DeLoach to Looney.
Had it not been for the two points the Jackets scored for the earlier safety, the game would have ended in a 12-12 tie and required overtime to decide the winner.
&8220;Winning like that is exciting for the fans, but it&8217;s leading me to an early grave,&8221; said Vincent head football coach Dwight Spradley.
He said it seems that every week his team has to fight back to win.
Falkville jumped on Vincent early with two pass plays for touchdowns.
Spradley gave credit to his entire defense for not giving up another point. He noted the play especially of defensive end Terrence Carter, and linebackers Justin Peterson and Jacob King.
Spradley said his offense continues to struggle, but DeLoach made some good throws in the fourth quarter and all his receivers played well.
The Jackets rushed for 74 yards and passed for 199 yards for 273 yards of total offense. Falkville was held to 109 yards rushing and 110 yards passing for 219 yards total offense.
This Friday night the Jackets will travel to Victory Christian for a chance to win the Region 5 crown. A loss will result in a second place region finish