It’s been seven years since Vincent has opened a season 1-0. But the Yellow Jackets found a key missing ingredient Friday that help lift them to a 27-13 victory at Fayetteville — special teams.

“That’s a confidence builder for us,” Vincent head coach Dwight Spradley said. “It’s going to relieve some pressure. The biggest roar from the crowd came when we kicked our extra points.”

The Jackets struggled to put the ball through the uprights last season, but wide receiver Brett Frizzell made 3-of-4 Friday to give Vincent something that cost it a few games last year.

“It felt good to have that shoe on the other foot,” Spradley said.

After forcing Fayetteville to go four-and-out on its opening drive, Vincent returned a punt to the 12-yard line for its first possession. Seconds later, quarterback Corey Deloach found Frizzell for a 12-yard touchdown pass on the Jackets’ first offensive play.

Fayetteville answered on its next possession with a 22-yard touchdown pass to tie the game, but Vincent didn’t take long to regain the lead, as Juwan Rogers caped a 52-yard drive with a 2-yard dash to help Vincent go up 14-7 with 2:18 to go in the opening quarter.

A missed extra point before the half, gave Vincent a 14-13 lead.

Deloach put the Yellow Jackets’ third touchdown on the board early in the third quarter on a 19-yard run. The point-after attempt by Frizzell was no good.

The second half was all Vincent, as Rogers picked up more than half of his 101 yards rushing to help the Jackets control the clock. He added a second touchdown in the final minute of the game with a 31-yard run on third down.

“Juwan was as good as a player we had last year. The problem was he fumbled … He held onto the ball nicely tonight,” Spradley said. “We expect him to have 1,000 yards this year. He’s going to get loose.”

Spradley was glad to get the monkey off his back and collect a win, considering the last 1-0 start was his first season as head coach in 2001.

“It wasn’t a monkey. It was an ape, and it finally jumped off,” he said.

Vincent travels to Hale County next Friday.