VIDALIA — Vidalia Junior High School head football coach Bruce Pickle has a squad that’s used to winning.

This past spring, Vidalia went undefeated in basketball to the tune of a 27-0, and members of that team were able to carry that streak onto the football field. After defeating Caldwell 34-6 Oct. 13, Vidalia wrapped up its football season with a perfect 6-0 record and a Tri-Parish League Championship.

Pickle said much of the credit goes toward his group of eighth graders.

“I think we had 22 of them, and the majority of them have been playing football for a while, going all the way back to youth leagues I’m sure,” Pickle said. “Last year, quite a few of them got experience as seventh graders, and they’re a very tight group that put the team ahead of themselves.”

Because of that, Pickle said he enjoyed coaching these players, saying their hard work is what allowed them to excel.

“They were a fun group to coach,” Pickle said. “They came to practice every day and practiced hard.”

The leadership the eighth graders showed also played a big part in the team’s undefeated season, Pickle said.

“They were accountable to each other and pushed each other to be better,” he said.

“It’s always important for some of your better players to be leaders on and off the field, and these guys were able to show the other ones how hard they needed to work and what they needed to do to get better.”

Pickle said very few seventh graders saw playing time, and he doesn’t expect many eighth graders for next year’s team.

“I know we’re expecting a big group of sixth graders,” Pickle said. “We’re losing just about everyone we had from this year’s team. We only had three or four seventh graders play a good bit in the eighth grade games.”

Among this year’s eighth graders, Pickle said quarterback Pate Shirley had a good year at quarterback, and running back Jonterrius Townsend had more than 500 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. He said he hopes the success of these players will carry over into high school, especial with Vidalia High School struggling in football of late.

“We had a lot of options on who to let carry the football, and we were able to sub in most of those 22 players and give them playing time,” Pickle said.

“I hope this group will go (to Vidalia High School) and stay together with the freshmen and sophomores they already have there. I hope they’ll be able to turn their program around.”

Pickle said it feels good to be an undefeated coach, but he gave all the credit to his players and assistants.

“It’s not really about me, it’s about the kids,” Pickle said. “We trying to encourage them and get the most out of them. We’re fortunate we had some talented kids that wanted to play football, and they did a tremendous job.”

Pickle’s assistant coaches are Whest Shirley, Josh Daniel and Buz Ellis.