Wheeler Wins Over Treutlen
The Wheeler County High School Bulldogs football team were in Soperton last Friday night to take on the Vikings of Treutlen County. The game as a battle in the first half with Treutlen storming back to make it a one-point game at halftime, but in the second half the Bulldogs pulled away to get the win over the Vikings.
In the first quarter of the game, the Bulldogs put the first points on the board as Alvin Ricks punched it in from two yards out to cap off a Wheeler drive. They did fail on the two-point conversion, but the Bulldogs led, 6-0.
Early in the second quarter of the game, the Vikings tied the game on a touchdown pass to make it 6-6. The Vikings added the extra point on a kick by Leo Brinson to take a 7-6 lead over the Bulldogs.
But just a few minutes later, Ricks broke free for a 40-yard touchdown to give the Bulldogs the lead back, 12-7. Justin Culver tacked on the two-point conversion to give Wheeler a 14-7 lead.
Treutlen answered with a rushing touchdown with just over nine minutes on the clock, but they missed the extra point as Wheeler held onto a 14-13 lead.
With just over five minutes to play in the first half, Wheeler extended their lead with a 20-yard run from Culver for the touchdown. Ricks added the two-point conversion to give the Bulldogs a 22-13 lead over Treutlen.
With three minutes left in the half, the Vikings closed the lead to 22-21 with a touchdown and a two-point conversion. That was how the game went to halftime.
Early in the third quarter, the Bulldogs got a defensive touchdown as Culver came up with an interception and returned it 55 yards for the touchdown. With the twopoint conversion by Ricks, the Bulldogs were on top, 30-21.
Wheeler came up with another interception with five minutes left in the third quarter with Kasyn Troup coming down with the ball for the Bulldogs at the Wheeler 25-yard line to stop a drive by the Vikings.
Halfway through the fourth quarter of the game, the Bulldogs added to their lead with a short run by Ricks to cap off a Bulldog drive. They did not get the two-point conversion, but Wheeler led 36-21.
Shortly after the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs recovered a fumble at the Treutlen 40-yard line, and just a few plays later, Ricks took it in from 35 yards out for the touchdown. That put Wheeler on top 42-21.
In the final minute of the game, the Vikings did come up with a fumble recovery that was returned for a touchdown, but Wheeler took the win over Treutlen, 42-29.
It was another big game on the ground for Wheeler as Ricks ran for 201 yards and Culver added 180 yards rushing. The Vikings did get 93 yards rushing out of Roderick Fuller.
The Vikings ended their season with a record of 3-7, and they were 2-4 in Region play. The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a record of 7-3, and they were 4-2 in Region action. Wheeler, the #3 team out of Region 4, will now move on to the GHSA State Playoffs where they will face off with Jenkins County in the first round this Friday night in Millen at 7:30 p.m. Jenkins is the #2 team out of Region 3.
