By SAMANTHA HAASE | Special to the Reporter

VINCENT – The 5-2 Vincent Yellow Jackets faced the 2-4 Woodland Bobcats on Senior Night at Vincent Middle High School, and Vincent took a dominant 41-7 victory on their road to the state playoffs.

“We had good patrol running game and some key guys out, so it forced us to change our personnel offensively, but I’m proud of them for stepping up tonight,” Vincent coach Lucas Weatherford said.

The Jackets got off to a quick start after Landon Archer intercepted an attempted screen pass for a 60-yard touchdown.

The game continued strongly with an interception by Deontaye Robertson. The Yellow Jackets took advantage of the short field, and the drive was finished off with a 35-yard rushing touchdown by Phoenix Maxwell.

The Bobcats responded by driving up the middle for a 50-yard rush by Malakai Drummond. The drive was then completed by a 5-yard pass to Garrett Hendrix for a touchdown to close the lead to 14-7.

The Bobcats struck quickly again with a recovered onside kick, but after multiple attempts, their drive was unsuccessful. They turned the ball over to the Yellow Jackets by another pick by Archer on an attempted fake punt.

As the second quarter began, Asa Burge was quick to make an interception, but the Bobcats were unable to capitalize and punted.

The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to the halftime score of 20-7 on a long drive that was finished by a rush by Casen Fields, but the extra point was blocked by the Bobcats.

At the beginning of the second half, the Yellow Jackets scored seven again on a drive by Fields with a rush for 35 yards.

“Casen has grown up a lot this year,” Weatherford said. “I’ve been really proud of him. He’s gained more confidence and has learned to hone his ability to run the ball and throw the ball really well.”

The Yellow Jackets’ defense pushed through controversial calls and recovered a fumble in the third quarter. After an extremely long drive, Vincent ended the third quarter with a punt.

The Bobcats opened the fourth quarter with an unsuccessful drive, turning it over to the Yellow Jackets.

The Yellow Jackets complete another drive for a score thanks to a Maxwell catch for his second touchdown to make the score 34-7.

With less than a minute left in the game, Quenterrius Robertson ran for an 85-yard touchdown to seal the Senior Night win, 41-7.

Fields rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns off 14 carries, and he was 8-for-15 passing for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Maxwell’s two touchdowns came off 64 receiving yards.

The Jackets had 314 total rushing yards, and in addition to Fields’ 100 yards, Jayden Roberts ran for 79 yards and Rykelus Robertson had 56 yards.

The Yellow Jackets continue towards the playoffs and will head away to Maplesville to play against Isabella High School next week.

“Our plan this week is to work on stopping Isabella,” Weatherford said. “They’ve got a very good offense. They’re very dynamic. It’s going to be a tough road test for us. So, we’ve got to come on Monday locked and ready to go.”