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By SARAH TURNER | Special to the Reporter 

DOUBLE SPRINGS – The Vincent Yellow Jackets’ season came to an end on Friday, Nov. 15 after a 25-20 loss against the Winston County Yellow Jackets.

“It hurts to lose,” Vincent coach Lucas Weatherford said. “I wanted to go a little bit further and make history for the school, but I can’t deny what the boys did.”

Undefeated Winston County had its stadium filled to the brim in order to watch the team take on Vincent.

Vincent entered the game with a 9-2 record, coming off a massive shutout win in the first round of the 2A playoffs against Sand Rock, 49-0.

The winner of the battle of the Yellow Jackets would punch its ticket to the third round of the playoffs to face Sulligent.

An early touchdown from Winston County’s senior wide receiver Chris Clemons would have the home Jackets get on the board first, but a missed two-point conversion made the score 6-0.

Vincent’s offense fumbled on the ensuing drive, where Winston County quickly capitalized.

Clemons and senior quarterback Landon Kelly connected again for a 40-plus yard touchdown pass, and the receiver would pose problems for Vincent all night.

This brought Winston County up by 12 with just under five minutes left in the first quarter.

Offsides penalties plagued Vincent’s defense in the first half as the unit continued struggling to find answers to Clemons and Kelley.

A breakthrough finally came on a Winston County fumble recovered by Vincent in the red zone.

Vincent took its first snaps of the game inside of the Winston County 40-yard line with just over two minutes left in the first quarter.

Senior quarterback Casen Fields led the charge into the end zone himself to put the visiting Jackets on the board. Vincent missed the extra point, and the score was 12-6.

Winston County continued racking up first downs on its offensive possessions, which resulted in another touchdown for the home team.

Once again, its two-point conversion attempt was denied, and the score was 18-6 with 5:13 left to play in the first half.

Clemons proved to be indomitable on both sides of the ball with an interception on a Vincent miscue.

However, after little forward progress from Winston County, Vincent took the reins back.

With a chance to cut into the deficit before the half, Fields showed off his athleticism on a scramble, escaping three Winston County defenders.

With 23 seconds left in the first half, he launched one towards the end zone, but the ball sailed out of bounds with too much force.

Vincent turned the ball over on downs, and Winston County took a knee to close out the first half.

Even though the away Jackets were down, Vincent still had an opportunity to put themselves back in the fight.

Fields was up for the challenge and answered with a stinger for his second rushing touchdown of the night to open up the second half.

Both teams traded inefficient drives for the remainder of the third quarter until Winston County turned possession over on downs deep in Vincent territory with 31 seconds left.

Fields orchestrated an efficient drive into the red zone, where Clemons once again proved unstoppable on both sides of the ball.

Clemons, the 2A playoffs’ rushing and receiving yards leader entering the game, returned his second interception of the night all the way to the house.

Now down 25-13 with just under nine minutes left in the game, it was time to see what Vincent was made of.

In another fourth down situation, Fields came up clutch with a 41-yard rushing touchdown, his third of the night.

This brought Vincent within five points of Winston County, and everything seemed to be going its way.

However, with three quick plays and little production, Fields was left with no other choice but to heave one more attempt downfield.

Clemons sealed the deal for Winston County with his third interception of the night, ending the game with a score of 25-20.

Vincent’s Fields ended his final high school game with 134 rushing yards and a trio of touchdowns. He also added 56 passing yards and was 6-of-13 on the night with three interceptions.

After the game, Weatherford expressed pride in his players despite the result because of how hard they fought through a difficult road to the second round.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Weatherford said. “We got put in a region that’s the toughest in the state.”

Vincent will look to build off its 2024 success next year in Weatherford’s seventh year at the helm of the program.