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SEB recap: Offense goes AWOL
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    BROOKLET – The lightening around Fred Shaver Stadium was the only thing that kept the Southeast Bulloch defense off the field as the visiting Vidalia Indians (2-0) shut down the Yellow Jacket offense and got a 26-0 win at SEB (1-2) Friday.
    “Defensively, we played pretty well,” said Jacket coach John Kenny. “We’ve got to work on staying low and getting a little more push, but the main emphasis on this entire game was our offense, keeping our defense on the field extremely too long.”
    After only three plays, the game was delayed nearly two hours due to area storms, and the Indians returned to the field ready. The rested Yellow Jacket defense made a stand on the first drive of the game after a 12-play, five minute, 30 second drive was ended on the SEB 14-yard line on a turnover-on-downs, but the Jackets went three-and-out and VHS running back Damion Singleton scored from nine yards out on the ensuing drive.
    The Yellow Jacket offense went three-and-out on each of its first-half drives, and was fortunate to hit the locker rooms at halftime trailing only 14-0.
    The other VHS first-half score came on a controversial call as the SEB defensive line forced Indian quarterback Terrance Jackson out of the pocket. Jackson scrambled to the sideline, dodged a few tackles and appeared to be ready to run. The SEB crowd and sideline erupted as it appeared that Jackson threw a pass after he crossed the line of scrimmage. There were no flags as VHS fullback Tavaris Beecham caught the 49-yard touchdown pass. A two-point conversion put the Indians up by 14.
    “I just coach them,” said Kenny about the controversial play. “Even when the quarterback scrambles, we’ve got to cover. That’s just part of football.”
    The Southeast offense managed only seven passing yards in the first half and the running game was held without a gain.
    “Defensively they did a great job stopping us,” said Kenny, “and we left our defense on the field way too long. We caused a turnover, and had goal line stops – we had two of them – and defensively we got worn out because we didn’t do what we should have done on offense.”
    When the SEB defense caused a fumble with 7:05 remaining in the first half, two incomplete passes and two false-start penalties forced another punt.
    It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when the SEB offense was able to get anything going. Quarterback Joe Wilson completed four of his first seven fourth-quarter passes, including a 32 yard pass to Tony Raymond on third down.
“(Wilson) completed a few really nice balls, but it’s like our entire team. We’ve just got to keep improving, and Joe will do the same.
Running back Tharon Davis broke loose for a 17-yard run on the same drive, but after a pair of first downs, Wilson threw four consecutive incomplete passes to secure the Vidalia shutout.
    After his 200-yard performance against Portal, where he scored three times, Davis was held to only 22 yards on 12 carries.
    Beecham rushed for 103 yards for the Indians and Singleton added 27 yards and two touchdowns. Vidalia handed the ball off to eight different runners as they amassed 296 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
    The Indians missed all three extra-point attempts.
    The Southeast offense will have to improve when Westside hosts the Jackets on Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. for its homecoming game.
    “The bottom line,” Kenny said, “is that we’ve got to pick up first downs and move the ball on offense. That gives our defense a break to get their feet back up under them. I’m really proud of our defense. We’ll just keep working on our offense.”

    Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9404.