VHS Indians Move To 5-0

Courtesy of VHS

Antonio Barron rushed for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass from Jackson Berry as the Vidalia High School Indians rolled over the Windsor Forest Knights 36-14 Friday night at Buck Cravey Field, in the Region opener for both teams. The win moved the Indians to 5-0 on the year and 1-0 in Region 3AA play. With the win, the 2022 Indians became just the 9th team to begin the season at 5-0 since 1990.

The Indians wasted little time getting on the board, as Kaleb Bennett took the opening kickoff and raced 78-yards, only to have the score erased by a holding penalty, 15-yards behind the play, which set up the Indians at their own 22-yard line. On the next play, the Indians turned the ball over on a fumble, giving the Knights a first down on the Vidalia 33-yard line. The Windsor drive was short-lived, though. On the Knights’ 3rd play from scrimmage, Sirmarion Oglesby picked off a Jerimiah Brown pass to give the ball back to the Indians at their own 21-yard line. Nine plays later, Barron got his first of two rushing touchdowns on the night, a 4-yard run to put the Indians up 6-0, with 6:15 to go in the opening quarter. A bad snap on the PAT was fielded by Berry, who rolled to his right and hit Ronald Pointer in the endzone to give Vidalia an 8-0 lead.

The Indian defense held the Knights on their next possession, forcing a punt from their 47-yard line, which only netted 23-yards, giving the Indians the ball at their 30-yard line. The Indians drove the ball down inside the Windsor Forest 20– continued from page

yard line, but a holding penalty put the ball back at the 32-yard line. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Berry hit Barron on a 32-yard strike to give Vidalia a 15-0 lead with 11:52 to go in the half.

Windsor Forest answered the score with their longest drive of the night, a twelve-play 60-yard drive which was capped off by a 2-yard run by the Knights’ Victor Walker to make the score 15-6, after the Knights failed to convert on a 2-point conversion.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jordan Powell got the Indian crowd back into the game as he fielded the kick on his own 26-yard line and raced down the Knights sideline 74 yards for the score, to put the Indians on top 22-6 following Adam Crutchfield’s PAT, with 6:52 to go in the half.

The Indian defense wwent to work, holding the Knights inside their own territory, with Ronald Pointer, Carson Turner, Ahmelion Jones, and Aydin Marin all coming up with big plays to shut down the Knights’ ground attack. The Indians got the ball back at their own 28-yard line following a 32-yard punt and, once again, got to work with under 3:53 to go in the half. After a 1-yard gain on first down, Barron called his own number, got some good blocking from Duggan Johnson and Tre Adams and raced 44-yards to the Windsor 27-yard line.

Adams then took the ball and delivered a punishing run to the 12-yard line, setting up a first and ten with 2:33 to go in the half. Following an incomplete pass, Berry tossed it to Barron, who used his speed to turn the corner and outrun the defense to the endzone for his 2nd rushing touchdown of the night. Crutchfield was once again true with his PAT, and with 2:07 to go in the half, Vidalia led 29-6.

The Indians’ final score of the night came from their special teams when Omarion Oglesby scooped up a bad snap on a punt and sprinted 10-yards for the scoop and score, and following another successful PAT from Crutchfield, the Indians led 36-6 with 11:08 to go in the game.

Windsor Forest closed out the scoring with a 3-yard run by Brown, and following a successful 2-point conversion, the final score was Vidalia 36 and Windsor Forest 14. The Indians racked up 353 yards in offense, including 238-yards on the ground, with Barron accounting for 155 on 11 carries and 2 TDs. Berry ended the night with 109 yards and a TD through the air on a 6 of 10 night.

Defensively, Carson turner led the way with 13.5 total tackles, including 2.5 for a loss. Jarques Mitchell added 7.5 total tackles with 2 for a loss, while Marin ended the night with 5 solo stops, including 2 for a loss. Ahmelion Jones had another solid night with 5 solo stops and 2 assists.

The Indians will once again have a week off before heading to Tattnall County on Thursday, October 6, for a Region 3AA matchup.