BEARVILLE — Vidalia made good use of an open date to prepare for Friday night’s game here against second-ranked Class AA Pierce County.
The visitors certainly didn’t play like a team with a 1-4 record as they had the Bears searching for answers to the wrinkles the Indians added during the bye week. Vidalia showed a totally different offense and enough changes on defense to stymie Pierce County for the better part of a quarter.
“All the credit in the world to Vidalia,” Bears head coach Ryan Herring said. “They came ready to play. They put in a new offense (wing-T from Single-Wing) and a different style defense from what they’d shown on film.
“They came in here to win.”
The Bears, however, walked away with a 21-0 homecoming victory after deciphering the Indians’ schemes. PCHS scored a touchdown in each of the final three quarters to keep its record perfect at 6-0 heading into this week’s Region 3 opener at Cook.
Senior Mattie Lee was crowned homecoming queen during the halftime ceremonies. The game’s kickoff was moved up two hours to 5:30 p.m., to avoid rain predicted to arrive later in the evening.
Jae’Veon Williams ran for each of Pierce’s touchdowns on the way to gaining 230 yards on 28 carries as the quarterback of the “Big Bear” offense.
“It felt like he didn’t even have 100 (yards),” Herring said. “It took our running backs and ‘sniffers’ (blocking backs) a while to see where the windows (running lanes) were against that defense. The way they played on our tackles was different than what we see from most teams.”
After both teams punted on their first two possessions of the game, the Bears finally were able to score all the points they needed early in the second quarter.
“The kids did a good job of adjusting back (defensively) to our wing-T rules from (the Single-Wing) we’d see on film,” Herring said.
Taking over at its 41 after the Indians’ second punt, PCHS needed only four plays to get into zone.
The big play was a 29yard pass from Jack McClellan to Nigel Brown on a quick out the receiver took down the sideline for a first down to the Indians’ 23. Two plays later, Williams scored from 19 yards out with 10:41 left in the half. Garrett Stevenson followed with the conversion kick for a 7-0 lead.
“McClellan made some nice throws,” Herring said of the sophomore, who was perfect on five passes for 72 yards.
Neither team could get more than two first downs in either of their possessions the rest of the quarter, leaving the Bears on top by a touchdown at intermission.
Vidalia got the second half kickoff, but went three-and-out, and the Bears turned the stop into their second touchdown with 6:56 left in the period. Pierce County went 65 yards in six plays with Williams scoring on an eightyard run to cap the series.
A 27-yard pass from McClellan to Brown on a pump-and-go route down the sideline resulted in a first down at the Vidalia 20. Williams covered that distance in two plays, and Stevenson’s extra point made it 14-0.
Photos By RICK HEAD Pierce County linebacker Rowan McCrea (left photo, No. 12) creates havoc in the Vidalia backfield with a tackle for loss in the second period. Running back Jae’Veon Williams (right photo, No. 2) gets upended by an Indian defender during first half action.
“A really nice pass and catch,” Herring said of the pivotal play.
The Indians then mounted their only threat of the night before being turned away on a fumble on a failed fourth down play from the Bears’ six. Taking over at the 20 following the kickoff into the end zone, Marquis Harvey flipped the field with a 74-yard run on first down.
The 5-foot-6 junior appeared stopped after a short gain up the middle, but he broke out of a pack of Bears into open field before Dylan Johnson and Chance Williams ran him down. His run accounted for more than half of the Indians’ 139 yards total yards for the game.
Vidalia was still at the six after three runs netted no yards. Quarterback Jack McCaw fumbled while being sacked on fourth down and Ocean Henderson recovered to end the threat.
The Bears mounted their longest drive of game after the recovery, but it failed to produce points. Pierce moved from its 16 to the Vidalia three before losing a yard on second down and having a delay of game on third down to push the ball back to the nine.
Williams misfired on a pass after the penalty before wide receiver Chance Williams was tripped up just short of the goal line on a reverse on fourth down.
The Bears closed the scoring after Chance Williams intercepted a pass for a first down at the Indians’ 29. Three plays later, Jae’Veon Williams got his third touchdown of the game with 2:07 left.
“We could never really seize any momentum, but we did keep playing until we got things figured out,” Herring said.
