VIDALIA — Vidalia High School scored 21 unanswered points to break open what had been a hard-fought game as the Vikings defeated theDelhi Charter School Gators 50-22 Friday night in an LHSAA District 2-2A game.

Vidalia trailed Delhi Charter 7-0 with nearly 8:00 left in the firstquarter and didn’t score itself until there were about 5 minutes to go inthe opening quarter on Tristan Weatherly’s eight-yard touchdown passto Devonte Loyd. Weatherly’s two-point conversion pass to JaredSimpson gave the Vikings an 8-7 lead.

Weatherly then connected with Simpson on a 52-yard touchdown pass withnearly 1 minute left in the first quarter for a 15-7 Vikings lead. ButDelhi Charter (4-6, 2-4) answered on a rushing touchdown to trail just15-14 with about 9:00 to go in the second quarter. Weatherly threw twoTD passes late in the quarter to give Vidalia a 29-14 halftime lead.

However, Vikings head coach Dee Faircloth was not pleased with histeam’s performance in the first half.

“We started late in the first half. We had a heart-to-heart talk athalftime,” Faircloth said. “Then we played well in the second half.We’ve got to play two complete halves.”

The Gators made it 29-22 on yet another rushing touchdown andtwo-point conversion with about 3 minutes left in the third quarter.

However, Vidalia put a stop to Delhi Charter’s comeback attempt withtwo more touchdown passes by Weatherly and a touchdown run by Cam’ronRandall.

Weatherly completed 20 of 32 passes for 247 yards with six touchdownsand just one interception. Simpson had nine receptions for 143 yardsand three touchdowns while Loyd had seven catches for 67 yards withtwo scores and DeMikal McCoy had two catches for 21 yards and onetouchdown.

“Tristan always has a good job. He’s lights out. Six touchdowns,that’s a pretty good night for a quarterback,” Faircloth said.

Randall led Vidalia’s rushing attack with 90 yards and one touchdownon seven carries. Devon Green had 54 yards on 14 carries. The Vikings’defense recovered four fumbles.

“The defense played well. We gave up some big plays that we shouldn’thave,” Faircloth said. “But overall, they played well.”

Up next for Vidalia (7-3, 5-1) is the LHSAA Class 2A Playoffs, whichbegin next week. The Vikings will find out on Sunday where they willbe seeded and who they will host in the first round. They entered this game at No. 9 in the LHSAA Class 2A power ratings.