VINEMONT, Ala. – It was senior night for the Eagles Thursday night as they hosted their cross-county rivals, the Holly Pond Broncos, in a tight, back-and-forth game that saw the Broncos finish on top 36-29
Vinemont received the opening kick-off and pounded the ball down the field on a scoring drive capped off by a 4-yard run from Colby Miller that put the Eagles up 7-0 with 6:45 left in the opening quarter. The Eagle defense forced a fumble, recovered by Wyatt Thomason, on the second play of the ensuing Bronco drive to give the ball back to their offense. Aided by a conversion on fourth down, the Eagles were able to extend the lead when Dallin Dinkle raced in from 6 yards out with 2:56 remaining in the opening quarter to make it 14-0. This time, Holly Pond answered as Kyler Chaney went 55 yards to the house and cut the lead to 14-8 with 1:39 remaining in the opening quarter.
After forcing a punt, the Broncos got the ball back and Chaney found Jayden Perkins for a 9-yard touchdown pass with 7:29 remaining until halftime to tie the game at 14. With 3:26 left in the second quarter, Vinemont regained the lead at 21-14, thanks to a 35-yard scamper by Dinkle. To go along with the flow of the game, the Broncos answered once again when Levi Boatright went 47 yards with 1:18 remaining in the half, bringing the score to 22-21 Broncos at the break.
Holly Pond wasted no time to start the second half. On the fourth play of the third quarter, Chaney got loose and 63 yards later, found the end zone and put the Broncos up 30-21 with 9:57 left to play in the third. Not to be outdone, the Eagles answered back with a touchdown of their own at the 6:38 mark in the third quarter when Dinkle punched it in from 3 yards out and cut the lead to 30-29. Colby Miller intercepted a pass on the ensuing Broncos possession; however, the Eagle offense was unable to capitalize and was forced to punt.
With 11:07 to play, the Broncos extended their lead with another touchdown, but Vinemont was able to deny the 2-point conversion, keeping it a one-possession game at 36-29. Vinemont was driving the ball to tie up the game or go for the win with a successful 2-point conversion but an incomplete pass on fourth down ended the drive and gave the ball back to Holly Pond. A few key first downs helped run enough time off the clock, and after the Eagles held on fourth down to get the ball back, there were only a few seconds remaining in the game for Vinemont to draw up a play to get into the end zone. The bad news is, they needed 92 yards. The Eagles couldn’t manage to go the length of the field in the final seconds and the Broncos left with a hard fought, 36-29 victory.
The Broncos will return home next week to take on the Fairview Aggies. Vinemont will hit the road to face the Cold Springs Eagles and close out the regular season.
Copyright 2019 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
