Toombs Takes County Title; Are CoRegion Champions
Courtesy of TCHS
On Friday, the Toombs County High School Bulldogs entered into Vidalia High School's Buck Cravey Field with a Region Title on the line. It was a battle early, but the Bulldogs pulled away late to take the win over their rival the Indians.
With the win the Bulldogs finished the season as Co-Region Champions, along with Appling County and Pierce County. Vidalia took the #4 spot in the Region. Pierce will take the #1 seed from the Region heading into the playoffs with Toombs #2, and Appling at #3. Toombs is 9-1 on the year and is currently the #4 ranked team in the state in AA. Appling is ranked #2, with Pierce at #3 in the state. This is the first Region Championship for the Bulldogs since 2000.
The Dogs received the opening kickoff and drove 76 yards before the drive stalled at the Indian 16-yard line. Senior Braylen Dietrich kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Dogs an early 3-0 lead with 8:56 remaining in the first quarter. The Indians answered on their first drive, through the air connecting on a 72-yard pass on a 3rd and 9 from their own 22yard line. They scored 3 plays later on a 3-yard run, taking the lead with 5 minutes to play in the opening quarter.
The Bulldogs were unable to get anything going on their next drive, but Dietrich pinned Vidalia on their own 2-yard line with a 42-yard punt. The Red Bullets pushed the Indians back to their own 1-yard line on 4th down. Vidalia set up to punt, but Sophomore Hayden Roy shot around the end and blocked the Indian punt in the end zone, and Aiden Stokes recovered for the Toombs County touch- continued from page
down. The teams exchanged possessions, and at halftime, the score remained, 10-7, with Toombs on top.
Vidalia punted on their first possession of the second half, and the Dogs took the ball with 9 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter. The Bulldogs drove 61 yards on 7 plays, capped off by an 8-yard Dabvn Wadley run for another Bulldog touchdown, giving Toombs a 17-7 lead with 5:18 to go in the third. Vidalia answered with a 10-play, 70-yard drive, scoring on a 36-yard touchdown pass, narrowing the Bulldog lead to 17-14 at the start of the 4th quarter. The Bulldogs took over the game on the next drive. The Red Bullet defense forced 3 turnovers and capitalized, putting 2 more touchdowns on the board. A 12-yard TJ Stanley pass to Senior Keshon Deloach and a 2-yard run by Wadley with 1:55 remaining in the game sealed it for the Dogs with the final score out of Vidalia: Toombs County 31, Vidalia 14.
The Dogs will be home for Round 1 of the GHSA State playoffs and will host Southwest Macon on Saturday at The Pit. SW Macon is 6-4 on the season and is known for putting up big numbers through the air. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m.
