By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

VINCENT – It was a happy homecoming for Vincent and first-year head coach Lucas Weatherford as the Yellow Jackets ran over Winterboro 57-14 to pick up the first win of the season on Friday, Sept. 28.

Vincent used the trio of Chris Hardie, Tae McGregor and Robbie Albright at running back to gash the Bulldogs defense all night long en route to the big win.

The three backs combined for 50 of Vincent’s 57 points in the game as McGregor led the way with three touchdowns, while Hardie and Albright each added two touchdowns apiece on the ground.

Weatherford gave credit to his running backs, as well as the offensive line who helped pave the way for the big win. Vincent attempted just one pass in the game that came late in the third quarter on a pass from quarterback Dusty Davis to Albright which picked up a first down.

“We had struggled throwing it all year and we finally got some linemen back tonight and that helped out a lot,” Weatherford said. “Early in the game we thought we had some things that we did that worked well and we just stuck with it. Our three backs played phenomenal and our offensive line blocked as well as they have all year and they deserve a lot of credit.”

The Yellow Jackets jumped out early and never looked back against the Bulldogs as Hardie galloped for a 52-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game to put Vincent up 7-0.

Winterboro would respond on a 25-yard touchdown run from their quarterback. However, the extra point was no good as Vincent held a 7-6 lead with 9:42 to go in the first quarter.

It was as close as Winterboro would get as Vincent continued to pound the ball on the ground the remainder of the first quarter as Albright found the end zone for the Yellow Jackets’ second touchdown from three yards out. McGregor scored on the two-point to conversion to extend the lead to 15-6.

Late in the quarter, McGregor took a quick pitch around left end where he took it 57-yards for his first touchdown of the night to make it 21-6 Vincent.

After forcing a three-and-out on Winterboro’s next offensive possession, the Yellow Jackets put the game out of reach quickly as McGregor raced 70 yards down the sideline for a touchdown with 8:35 to go until halftime. The two-point conversion was successful as the Yellow Jackets pushed its lead to 29-6.

The Bulldogs only other points in the game came on the next offensive drive on a quarterback scramble that resulted in a 39-yard touchdown run. This cut the lead to 29-14 with 4:15 until halftime.

Vincent quickly responded as McGregor ripped off another big run that went 63-yards to the house to cap off a monster first half that gave the Yellow Jackets a 36-14 halftime lead.

In the second half, Vincent continued to get numerous chunk plays on the ground as Hardie scored on a 27-yard touchdown in the third quarter making it 43-14.

In the fourth quarter, Albright scored from two yards out and Will Harris scored the final touchdown of the game on the ground for the 57-14 win.

As the clock wound down, Weatherford was given a Gatorade bath to celebrate his first win as head coach of the Yellow Jackets.

“It was special and it’s been a special week preparing for homecoming having a lot of former players come back and talk to our team,” Weatherford said. “It was special to me though because I finally saw our guys put it together and see what they’re capable of. They played hard and played with energy for 48 minutes.”

With the win, Vincent improved to 1-4 and will travel to take on Central Coosa in a region game on Friday, Oct. 5.