VINEMONT — The Eagles didn’t play their best during the first half of Friday’s Class 3A, Region 5 game against Hanceville.
Coach Stephen Robinson’s group, however, produced a much better second half — and that was all the Red and White needed.
Vinemont dominated the final 24 minutes against the Bulldogs to secure a 56-30 home victory and improve to 6-1 (3-1) on the season.
The teams played to a 24-all tie at intermission following an eventful first half.
Dylan Lazaro kicked a field goal for Hanceville, Hunter Black delivered a scoring toss to Ashton Hurst, Eli Akin blocked and returned a punt for a touchdown and Marquies Leeth ran a kickoff back 90 yards for another score.
Vinemont’s Gabriel Herrera (two) and Chad Reynolds, meanwhile, each had touchdown runs and the Eagles converted all three 2-point attempts to match the Bulldogs.
The home team eventually notched a 40-24 lead following scoring runs by Herrera and Joshua Rhodes (as well as the subsequent 2-point conversions) before Leeth’s TD dash early in the final frame made it 40-30.
Rush Sandlin and Chase Blair, though, each found the end zone for Vinemont down the stretch to help the Eagles pull away.
“I thought we played with great intensity and effort all night,” Robinson said. “We’ve just got to correct the mistakes we made tonight. I really felt like we had a good week of practice, but obviously we let some complacency creep in. We will regather our focus before next week.
“To respond the way we did, though, in the second half speaks to our leadership and our coaches and our maturity to do what we know we’re supposed to do. We only gave up one touchdown in the second half and I thought we played even better offensively.”
Vinemont hosts 3A No. 6 Gordo next week. Hanceville (1-5, 1-3) welcomes in Midfield.