Vidalia High School wasted little time Saturday night.

The Vikings scored on their second play from scrimmage en route to scoring four first-half touchdowns as Vidalia topped False River Academy 28-12 in an LHSAA spring football game.

“We thought we did pretty well in the first half, and we kind of messed around in the second half. We had a penalty here, a penalty there or an interception, and that kind of broke our momentum.” VHS coach Dee Faircloth said. “But I was pleased with their effort, and I think we can have a good ball club.”

Quarterback Tristan Weatherly was the catalyst of Vidalia’s offensive explosion as the rising junior threw for 3 three touchdowns, including a 61-yard strike down the sideline to Josh Marsaw to open the scoring.

“This is his year,” Faircloth said of his signal caller. “He’s done a good job of preparing.”

Weatherly connected on 17-of-31 pass attempts for 338 yards, completing passes to eight separate Viking wide receivers.

“That makes my job easier,” Weatherly said of the talent surrounding him. “We were efficient, we were playing fast and playing with confidence.”

DeMikal McCoy paced the Vikings with six catches for 69 yards, while Jay Jackson and Paul Cupstid each hauled in three passes with Jackson leading the way with 92 yards.

“We’re shifting the momentum our way, and hopefully we can keep our confidence going,” Weatherly said. “The first half was really good. The second half, we didn’t do really good, but everybody kept their heads and kept playing.”

Vidalia’s second score came at the 1:56 mark of the first quarter after Weatherly connected with Cam’Ron Randall on a 5-yard scoring toss.

False River got its first score early in the second when Tyler Williams took a short pass from Damien Johnson and raced down the sideline for a long 70-yard score.

The Vikings answered right back on the ensuing play with a Devin Green 70 yard touchdown run, giving Vidalia a 22-6 advantage.

Vidalia’s final touchdown of the half came on a 5-yard passing play from Weatherly to McCoy, putting the Vikings ahead 28-6 at halftime.

False River added a late touchdown in the fourth quarter on another scoring pass from Johnson to Williams.

Vidalia outgained False River 481 yards to 446 for the game.

“The offensive and defensive coaches did a great job,” Faicloth said. “We’re going to be alright. We’re going to be Vikings again.”

There was one particular area, however, where Faircloth was displeased with as Vidalia was flagged eight times, including for several unsportsmanlike penalties.

“We need to clean up these silly penalties, but I saw a lot of promise out of these guys,” Faircloth said. “It was exciting for these kids. The biggest thing I saw was that we’re out of shape, but we’re going to cure that.”