By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

VINCENT – After its opening loss of 35-7 to former region foe Lanett, the LaFayette Bulldogs bounced back to show why they are considered a strong contender to win a championship in their second game of the season against the Vincent Yellow Jackets on Friday, Sept. 7.

The Yellow Jackets were coming into their matchup with the top-10 opponent off of two lopsided losses to start the season, mainly due to lack of depth and exhaustion late in games.

Through its first two games, Vincent had been within a possession or two in the third quarter, before going on to lose both games by at least 31 points.

Despite the opening-week loss, LaFayette felt confident about its chances to pull off a victory and did so in convincing fashion with a 40-0 road shutout to move to 1-1 overall this season and 0-1 in region play.

Similar to the first two games Vincent played, the Yellow Jackets were in the game for a while, but the offense never could get going, which became a factor after falling behind in the first five minutes of the game.

With 7:21 remaining in the first quarter, LaFayette scored its first touchdown of the game to take a 6-0 lead.

Vincent’s defense was able to keep the game close for a while, but due to the Yellow Jackets’ offense unable to find any space to run or move the ball, the defense became exhausted quickly after spending a ton of time on the field.

LaFayette scored 14 points in the second quarter in a matter of four minutes to take a 20-0 lead into the halftime break.

They added 14 more points after the break to cruise to the easy 34-0 victory to kick off region play.

For the Yellow Jackets, the loss moved them to 0-3 this year and 0-1 in region play, as they still search for that first win moving forward.

Vincent will now go into a much-needed bye week on Sept. 14, before looking to finish its last seven games strong with a favorable schedule down the stretch.

With their playoff hopes still in front of them, the Yellow Jackets still have their main goals ahead, but will need some drastic work quickly.

LaFayette, however, seems to be sitting in good shape now, but will have a difficult challenge in its next game on Sept. 14, when the Bulldogs travel to Thorsby, who sits at 3-0 with wins by at least 18 points in each of their first three games.

The Rebels have also scored 35-plus points in each of their first three games this year.