vidalia — The Vidalia defense spent Friday night chasing Ferriday’s Jarvis Brooks and Richard Jefferson all over the Vikings’ home field as the two Trojans combined for 328 rushing yards in Ferriday’s 43-7 win.

Brooks led the way for the Trojans’ ground attack with 207 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns. Jefferson added 121 yards and two touchdowns.

“It felt good to get this win for our team,” Brooks said. “I want to thank my offensive line. They did a good job, and without them I can’t do anything.”

Brooks was definitely not the tallest player on the field Friday night, but he may have been the fastest, and he used his speed to his advantage, he said.

“If I get in space they aren’t going to catch me,” he said. “The coaches teach me to run to green grass, find the hole and be disciplined to find my reads.”

Vidalia jumped on top of Ferriday on its first drive of the game when Martel Wiley caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Whitley.

Vidalia coach Gary Parnham said his team looked good on its first drive.

“(The drive) was great,” he said. “They were doing everything right. The line was blocking, and the backs were doing their job. We just have problems with keeping it up the whole game.”

After Vidalia’s 13-play drive opened the scoring, Ferriday answered with a 17-play drive to answer.

All 17 plays were runs, and Brooks capped the drive off with a 15-yard touchdown. Shannon Morales would add a two-point run, and Ferriday took the lead for good with 1:11 left in the first quarter.

“(Vidalia) came out with something different that we didn’t prepare for,” Oliver said. “Their coaching staff did a good job of doing something different, but we settled down and made adjustments.”

Ferriday would turn a one-point lead into a comfortable one in the second quarter.

Brooks scored twice on runs of 5 and 12 yards, and Jefferson was able to connect with Adrian Wiggins on his first passing attempt of the game for a 71-yard touchdown. The Trojans led 27-7 at the half.

Jefferson scored on a 17-yard run in the third quarter and a 32-yard run in the fourth quarter. Brooks and Wiggins added two-point conversions to those touchdowns, and the Ferriday defense was able to shut down the Vikings.

Vidalia finished with just 67 total yards, while Ferriday piled up 431.

Ferriday linebacker Dontrell Domino often found his way into the Vidalia backfield and finished with eight tackles and three sacks.

Sessions Vestal led Vidalia with 44 yards rushing on nine carries.

Parnham said Friday’s game showed that his team still has work to do.

“We came out playing with intensity, but we are green,” he said. “We have to learn how to play the game. We have to focus on just taking care of our responsibilities and improving as football players before we can worry about the scoreboard or anything like that,” he said.

Both teams were hurt by penalties Friday night. Vidalia finished the night with 11 penalties for 89 yards, and Ferriday had 13 infractions for 125 yards.

“We had a lot of mistakes and penalties,” Oliver said. “It is good to get this win, but we are a long way away from getting the tree chopped down.”

Ferriday (2-1) will travel to Wilkinson County next week, while Vidalia (0-3) travels to Bolton.