By STEPHEN DAWKINS | Special to the Reporter

FAYETTEVILLE – Vincent continued its dominant start to the 2023 season with a 50-13 win at Fayetteville on Friday, Sept. 15.

“I was proud of Lane Mims for stepping up this week for his team,” Vincent coach Lucas Weatherford said. “We have a lot of work to do to get ready for this next one. We will have our hands full at Comer next Thursday.”

The Yellow Jackets have now outscored their opponents 165-33 on the way to a 4-0 start, including 2-0 in Class 2A, Region 4 play.

But it was 7-0 in favor of the hosts early, as a coverage breakdown on a quarterback scramble led to a big pass play for a score.

Vincent answered on the ensuing possession with a 24-yard touchdown run by Rykelus Robertson, but the point-after attempt was no good and the visitors were still down, 7-6.

After a stop by the VHS defense, it was Robertson scoring again, this time from 40 yards out.

Aiden Poe passed to Aiden Gasaway for the 2-point conversion, and the Yellow Jackets led 14-0–never to trail again.

Vincent tried to catch Fayetteville off-guard with an onside kick attempt, but the Wolves recovered and were able to convert the short field into point with a field goal, cutting the deficit to 14-10.

In the second quarter, Lane Mims found Mattson Davis for a 52-yard Vincent touchdown. Daniel Camps tacked on the extra point to make it 21-10.

Fayetteville returned the kickoff inside Vincent’s 10-yard line, but in a win for the Jackets defense, they held the Wolves to a field goal and a 21-13 score.

Jayden Roberts answered for Vincent with a 20-yard touchdown run. Poe ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 29-13.

Just before halftime, Robertson broke off a 45-yard run to set up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Mims to Davis.
Poe scored another 2-point conversion, and the Yellow Jackets had broken the game open, as Vincent was up 37-13 at the intermission.

It didn’t take Vincent long to score in the second half, as Mims found Ray Albright for a 44-yard pass on the first play of the third quarter, and then Robertson finished it off with a 24-yard scoring run.

Already up 43-13, Wyatt Carlisle finished the scoring for the visitors with a 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. The Campos point-after made it 50-10, and Fayetteville added a late field goal to make the final score 50-13 with Vincent on top.

Mims, a freshman, filled in admirably for usual starting quarterback Casen Fields, who was sidelined with a nagging injury. Mims completed all three of his passing attempts for 109 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 21 yards.

Robertson had 182 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries, and Davis had 65 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

The Yellow Jackets next visit region foe B.B. Comer on Thursday, Sept. 21, before returning home for three straight games.