By CHRIS MEGGINSON | For the Reporter

VINCENT – An early 15-0 lead was not enough for the Vincent Yellow Jackets Oct. 26, as they were unable to overcome a few second-half big plays, falling to Fayetteville, 35-21, in a game which could have locked up a playoff berth.

The Yellow Jackets took a 13-0 lead in the first quarter on a 40-yard touchdown run by Robbie Albright and Chris Hardie 1-yard TD. Zach Munoz dropped the Fayetteville quarterback in the end zone for a safety to make it 15-0 early in the second quarter, but the visiting Wolves were not out of the hunt. Fayetteville out-scored Vincent 35-6 over the next 34 minutes of play.

“I was disappointed. For a game that we could have won and sealed our playoff fate, I felt we came out flat and didn’t play very hard. We kind of coasted early on. Even when we were up 15-0 I didn’t think we played very hard, and when things started going south, they went south in a hurry,” said Vincent head coach Lucas Weatherford.

Fayetteville scored on a rushing touchdown with three minutes to go in the first half, and then were driving again inside the 5 when they fumbled the ball back to the Yellow Jackets with 20 seconds to play in the second quarter. However, Vincent gave it right back, fumbling while trying to run out the clock and the Wolves pounced on it for another touchdown. The 2-point try was good to even the score at the half, 15-15.

Jon Dalton Pate hauled in a 55-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the third quarter to give Fayetteville a 22-15 lead. The Wolves scored twice more in the fourth quarter, first on a long pass, followed by recovering a squib kick and then punching in another touchdown for 35-straight points.

“Hats off to Fayetteville they came out ready to play, and for lack of a better term, they out coached us. They got away from us in the third and fourth quarters and we couldn’t put a drive together offensively. We didn’t execute,” Weatherford said.

Dusty Davis connected with Mark Hamilton for a 35-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to give Vincent its final touchdown. Davis completed 5-of-9 passes for 101 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Hardie rushed for 87 yards on 20 carries.

Vincent now sits in a three-way tie in Class 2A, Region 4 with Horseshoe Bend and Fayetteville, who are all 2-4 in region. The final playoff spot tiebreaker could come down to teams’ records against non-region teams. Vincent is currently 1-3 out of region, Horseshoe Bend and Fayetteville are both 0-3 outside the region entering the final week.

“We don’t control our destiny. We have to wait and see how the tie breakers unfold. We have to figure out what to do to get better,” Weatherford said.

Vincent (3-5, 2-4 Region 4) will travel to Ashville on Nov. 2 to close the regular season.