Vidalia — Even though their chances of making the playoffs are slim to none, the Vidalia Vikings went out on top Thursday night as they defeated District 3-3A opponent Bolton 40-28.

Vidalia (4-5, 3-2) put up six early on a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Caleb Vines in the first quarter.

Vines led all passers with a 9-for-15 effort with 185 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.

After a Bolton touchdown, the Vikings fought back and scored again on a 15-yard run by senior tailback Kevin Johnson to take a 12-7 lead in the second quarter.

The Vikings scored again and took an 18-7 lead into the half.

The Bears weren’t giving up though and scored to cut the lead to five.

Later in the fourth quarter with a 24-21 lead, Vidalia received a couple of questionable calls by the officials and found themselves on the one-yard line after a missed field goal by Bolton.

“It was tough to play against 16 guys,” Vidalia head coach Dee Faircloth said. “We did that last week too.”

The Viking offense didn’t do much and punted the ball away to the Bears who marched back and scored to take the lead 28-24.

Not wanting to go out on a sour note, Vidalia drove down the field on their next possession and Kevin Johnson converted on fourth and goal to put the Vikings ahead 32-28 with 3:16 left in the game.

Johnson led all runners with 160 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries.

The Bears’ next possession resulted in an interception by Kwan Reynolds who took the ball to the end zone and gave the Vikings a comfortable 40-28 lead.

Bolton was desperate and aired the ball out on their final possession only to give the ball back to the Vikings after another interception by Robert Jenkins.

“Our guys just kept plugging,” Faircloth said. “Our seniors did a great job all year long. I’m really going to miss them.”

Vidalia finishes with a 3-2 record in District 3-3A and needs a lot of help if they are to receive a wildcard in the LHSAA Class 3A playoffs.