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By CHRIS MEGGINSON | Special to the Reporter

WEDOWEE – Coming off a 43-point loss to No. 5 Lanett, the Vincent Yellow Jackets put up 540 yards in a battle at Class 2A No. 1 Randolph County on Oct. 8. Vincent produced more points against the unbeaten Tigers in a 56-38 loss than Randolph County has allowed in its last 46 games.

“I’m so proud of our kids. It was gutsy,” said VMHS head coach Lucas Weatherford. “We’re obviously not where we want to be, because we want to start winning games like that, but how far we’ve come in terms of how we compete and fight. I can’t say enough about our kids’ attitude … Two years ago that score would have been 63-0. The way our guys fought, it’s good to see, and I hope it continues.”

On the second play of the game, Jermarey Lawson broke a 77-yard touchdown run for Vincent. Randolph County answered as the two traded scores in the first quarter. A Vincent fumble on its second possession helped Randolph County take the lead. Vincent scored in three plays on its third drive when Will Harris completed a 35-yard pass to Zac Carlilse to set up a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tae McGregor.

McGregor later added a 61-yard run to make it 27-20 Randolph County after the first quarter.

The Yellow Jackets forced a fumble on the kickoff, but ended up throwing an interception on third down. After stopping the Tigers again, Vincent pulled within a point, 27-26, on a 75-yard fake punt by McGregor. He finished the game with four carries and 137 yards.

Randolph County scored 15 unanswered points to close the half up 42-26.

With Lawson and McGregor out in the second half, Harris moved to running back and Blake Allums took over under center. Having gained experience in the second half at Lanett, Allums completed 12-of-14 passes for 220 yards against the top team in the state to keep Vincent in the game.

“Blake comes to work every day at practice and is a great passer. He’s a coachable kid and I’m excited about him in the future. He doesn’t get as many reps in practice as he’d want, but we still get him reps and he took charge tonight,” Weatherford said.

Vincent produced a goal line stop against the Tigers early in the third quarter, forcing a fumble at the 1. Allums completed a 58-yard pass to Tray Youngblood and a 25-yard pass to Carlisle to move into the red zone.

Then on fourth-and-6, he picked up a first down with a 7-yard run to help set up a touchdown run by Harris to make it a 10-point game, 42-32.

Randolph County answered, but Vincent didn’t fold. Allums threw a 57-yard touchdown to Carlisle that highlighted his 163-yard night on six catches and made it 49-38.

Harris then intercepted a pass inside the 10 and returned it to the 50. Driving in with a chance to pull within three points, Allums was picked off in the end zone in the fourth quarter, setting up an insurance drive for Randolph County.

Randolph County (7-0) produced 567 total yards with 512 coming from the ground game. Senior JD Till led the pack with 247 yards on 23 carries, while Jonathan Wilson had 197 yards on 14 carries. Till also caught three passes for 38 yards.

“They’re so big up front. They just mashed us. We had 10th, ninth graders in there trying to bearclaw and hold gaps. Our kids played hard, but we were out manned. They never quit though, I was proud of them,” Weatherford said.

Vincent (2-5, 2-3 Class 2A, Region 4) is now 2-2 in games played this year after forfeiting its first three dates. The only two losses on the field are against Class 2A Top 10 teams. Next week, B.B. Comer, currently 13th in Class 2A, will travel to Harold Garrett Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff Oct. 16.