VIdalia — The proverbial football motor in the Vidalia Vikings did not rev up until a controversial onside kick in the fourth quarter of a 29-12 Delhi Charter victory.

The attempted onside kick with 5:22 left to play in the fourth quarter came after a 12-yard touchdown run by Delhi Charter Frank Maxwell, on a play-action bootleg that fooled the entire Vikings defense.

Up 22-6 in Saturday afternoon’s continuation of Friday’s 6-6 suspended contest, Delhi Charter kicked a roller towards Vidalia. The Vikings’ Kendrick Kunkle recovered the ball, and a personal foul penalty committed by Delhi Charter on the play setup Vidalia at Delhi Charter’s 35-yard line.

Vidalia went to work after, recording the team’s first third down conversion and first down since the game continued from 7:54 in the second quarter. Nathan Knapp rushed for a 5-yard gain on third down, and Cole Cangemi passed to Errick Genous for an 8-yard touchdown score to bring Vidalia within 10 with 2:45 left to play.

“Anytime you onside kick when you don’t have to, it fires you up,” said Vidalia head coach Jeff Hancock after the game.

Delhi Charter head coach Brett Raley clarified his intentions of the onside kick following the contest.

“He was supposed to squib the ball down here to the 30,” Raley said. “Our problem is when we try to kick it deep, I can’t tell you the number of kickoffs that have been returned on us. That was honestly my thinking behind it.”

Cangemi ran up the middle on a quarterback keeper on the two-point conversion try but was stopped short.

Vidalia failed to recover the ensuing onside kick, and Delhi Charter would score again five plays later, as Gators running back Christian Colvin broke free on a 30-yard touchdown run. Colvin had 132 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on Saturday.

In the loss, Hancock was proud of the defensive effort, but was disappointed in the slow start from his offense. A reoccurring problem for his young team has been the penetration upfront along with the running backs inability to hit the hole.

“We’re working on that,” Hancock said. “It’s hard to be a running back and try to be patient when you have 11 guys coming to get you.”

Vidalia linebacker Christian Wroten, who made several key stops in the backfield, said Delhi Charter executed better than they did.

“They were more disciplined,” Wroten said. “I don’t know if they were more athletic than (Delhi), but they played better.”

The Vikings finished with three first downs compared to Delhi Charter’s 12 Saturday. The Gators totaled 167 yards, while Vidalia had 51 total yards from the 7:54 mark of the second quarter.

While Hancock left the field sour over Raley’s questionable play calls late in the game, Raley was happy to get a “quality victory.”

“To (Vidalia’s) credit, they never quit,” Raley said.