VIDALIA — If one word could sum up Vidalia’s football season so far, it would be frustrating.

And Vikings coach Gary Parnham felt some more of that frustration after Vidalia’s 44-20 loss to Buckeye Thursday night.

Vidalia had some early hope, as they led 14-7 midway through the first quarter, but it quickly fell apart as Buckeye scored 35 consecutive points en route to the easy win.

“It’s the same thing every game,” Parnham said. “We had breakdowns and don’t do what we do in practice. We don’t follow our assignments. It’s been that way all season.”

Vidalia jumped out to the early lead thanks to Jamale Davis, who returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown and then scored on a 60-yard touchdown run on the Vikings’ first offensive possession.

However, the Vidalia defense was incapable of stopping Buckeye’s two-headed ground attack of Jacob Thomas and Colton King.

The two running backs combined to rush for 240 yards, and the Panthers rushed for 301 yards as a team, much of it right up the middle of the line.

“Our linebackers never stepped up and filled the gaps, and we weren’t getting off blocks,” Parnham said. “We worked on that all week in practice, we just didn’t perform.”

Vidalia didn’t hang onto its 14-7 lead for very long, as Buckeye marched down the field on the ground before King scored on a 1-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.

It was the second touchdown of the night for King, who earlier had returned a kickoff 87 yards for a score.

The Panthers weren’t done, as they struck again a few minutes later.

After the Vikings turned the ball over on downs at the Buckeye 35, the Panthers went on another extended march down the field, all on the ground.

Quarterback Brett Duplissey capped off the drive with a 1-yard sneak to put the Panthers up 19-14.

While the Panthers got most of their yards on the ground, Duplissey showed off his strong arm on Buckeye’s next possession.

A few plays after a Vidalia interception at the Buckeye 30, Duplissey found Caleb Gammel streaking down the sideline for a 66-yard touchdown pass with a little over a minute remaining in the half.

Buckeye led 27-14 at halftime, and it would only get worse for the Vikings in the third quarter.

Thomas capped off another extended Buckeye drive with a 7-yard run midway through the third quarter, and King scored yet again on a 23-yard scamper.

Vidalia’s only touchdown of the second half came on a 22-yard run by Davis.

The junior tailback was the lone bright spot for Vidalia’s offense, as he rushed for 140 yards on 11 carries.

Davis actually had 140 of the Vikings’ 160 offensive yards in the game.

The final score of the game came in the final minutes, when Vidalia quarterback Caleb Vines was sacked in the end zone for a safety.

Vidalia drops to 0-5 on the season and 0-2 in District 3-3A, and Parnham is feeling the frustration.

“It’s frustrating trying to rebuild,” Parnham said. “We’ve been down for quite a while, and we’re trying to get this program reestablished. We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board.”