Indians Season Ends at Spencer
Courtesy of VHS
The Vidalia Indians saw their season come to an end on Saturday as they fell to Spencer 41-34. The Indians finished the season at 5-6 in Rodney Garvin’s first season back as Head Coach and returned to the State Playoffs after missing last year’s postseason for the first time in 10 years.
The Indians fell behind 13-0 with 55 seconds to go in the first quarter but then put together an 11play drive that was capped off by Jamarion Phillips’ 5 5-yard run to make it 13-6 with 6:20 to go in the half, following a missed 2 point try after a bad snap on the try.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Indians got the ball back as the ball got away from a Spencer player and was recovered by the Indians on the Greenwave 5-yard line.
But the Indians were unable to take advantage of the turnover and failed to produce any points after being stopped on a 4th and goal from the 1-yard line.
Vidalia’s defense got the ball back for the offense with 1:38 left after allowing Spencer just one first down and forcing a punt.
The Indians wasted little time tying the game up with Jackson Berry engineering a 4-play 59-yard drive that was capped off when Berry found DJ Wallace on a 29-yard pass to make the score 13-13, following Adam Crutchfield’s PAT.
But Spencer’s highpowered offense took only 1:13 to take the lead back as Gary Gaither hit Demarcus Horne on a 3-yard toss to give the Greenwave a 2013 lead at the half.
The Indians fell behind by 14 points with 5:51 left to go in the 3rd quarter when Gaither scrambled 2 yards for the TD to make the score 27-13.
The Indians answered with a score of their own, taking just two plays to score on a 32-yard pass to Antonio Barron, and following the PAT, Vidalia trailed 27-20 with 5:03 left in the quarter.
But Spencer scored again, this time on a nineplay drive, which ended with Justyn Williams scoring on a 2-yard run to make the score 34-20 with 2:21 to go in the quarter.
The Indian’s next score came following a blocked Spencer punt, the third of the year for Vidalia’s Special Teams. Antonio Barron scored 2 plays later on a 3-yard run to make the score 34-27 following Crutchfield’s PAT.
However, the fastpaced Spencer offense put their 41st point on the board on a DeAndre Witherspoon 15-yard run to make the score 41-27 with 4:23 to go in the game.
Vidalia again got a score to pull within seven when Berry hit Antonio Barron for his 3rd TD of the day, a 14-yard throw that made the score 41-34 following the PAT with 1:27 to go in the game.
The Indians tried an onside kick to try and get the ball back, but the kick was recovered by Spencer, who ran the final 1:25 off the clock for the victory.
Jackson Berry ended the day 14-25 for 205 yards with 3 touchdowns and an interception. Antonio Barron finished his career with 79 yards receiving and 41 yards rushing with three touchdowns. Jamarion Phillips ended the day with 41 yards rushing and another 20 yards receiving, while DJ Wallace caught one touchdown pass with 46 yards receiving.
The Indians will now look toward the 2024 season, which will see Vidalia play in a brand-new region after the GHSA Reclassification process. The Indians will play in Region 3A Division 1 with Savannah Christian, Savannah Country Day, Screven Co., Swainsboro, and Toombs Co.
