VIDALIA, La. &045; As the tide has turned in this series, the Ferriday Trojans will take anything they can get right now.

If it’s in the form of a mere jamboree win over neighboring Vidalia, more power to them. But when it’s of the come-from-behind variety with only a handful of seconds left, it really made them smile.

The Trojans connected on a 25-yard touchdown pass with five seconds left to take a 20-14 win over the Vikings in the nightcap of the Vidalia Jamboree.

&uot;For the last two years we’ve been taking it on the chin,&uot; said Ferriday head coach James McFarland, whose team hasn’t beaten Vidalia in the regular season since 2001. &uot;I know it was a jamboree, but we’ll enjoy it the rest of the night and tomorrow we’ll start preparing for our season. We’ve got the whole season still ahead of us.&uot;

At least the Trojans can start out in positive spirits after the dramatic win, but it’s the Vikings who will do just the opposite. While the Trojans showed Saturday they may be significantly better than last year’s team, the Vikings may have more work to do in areas on both sides of the ball.

The Trojans needed only two plays to get to the end zone. Terrance Johnson hit Josh Chester on a 39-yard pass to get to the Vidalia 25, and there Johnson found Dra’Carl Walker wide open across the middle for the score.

&uot;We’ve got a long, long way to go,&uot; Vidalia head coach Dee Faircloth said. &uot;We’re not even close. Ferriday has got some hosses. They’re loaded. They ought to win every ball game. We’ve got a long way to go &045; a long way to go. I knew it was going to be a bad day when the press box door fell off.&uot;

The Vikings rallied to take a 14-13 lead with under a minute to go in what appeared to be the final blow of the game. The Trojans were called for a 15-yard facemask call when Jordan Brewer got near midfield, and that brought the Vikings down to the Ferriday 22.

Two plays later Brandon Hawkins hit Demack Bates on a short pass, and Bates fought his way into the end zone for a touchdown with 36 seconds left. Hawkins ran in the two-point conversion for a one-point lead.

The Trojans, though, kept cool when they got the ball back at their own 36.

&uot;It’s stuff we’ve been trying to do all night,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;We could have been doing that all night. When you get the lead, you get lax. When you get behind, the players focus more.

&uot;(Walker) got behind him, and that’s something we knew we could do. Either the pass was too long, or we couldn’t get it off. That time we got protection, and he got it off.&uot;

The Vikings’ last drive and their first drive were the only high points offensively in the contest. Their first score came after Hawkins hit Jordan Brewer on a 47-yard pass on the first play of the game, and Hawkins ran it in from 1 yard out for a touchdown six plays later.

The Trojans picked it up on the next three drives, and Vidalia punted three times and had just two first downs. One drive nearly ended when Ferriday’s Anthony McCray recovered a fumble, but the ball popped loose again and Vidalia’s John Dale Loomis got it back.

&uot;(Hawkins) got hit about every play because we couldn’t protect him,&uot; Faircloth said. &uot;We couldn’t protect our quarterback. I was afraid he was going to get killed. We’ve got one starter back on the line, and he’s new at the tight end. I’ve got just about all new people.&uot;

The Trojans got their first score when Montario Tennessee ran it in from 5 yards out. Matt Smith later ran a punt back 83 yards for a touchdown to give the Trojans a 13-6 lead with 9:37 left in the second.

Farmerville 10, Block 8

Bears head coach Scott Green watched as his club scrambled near the buzzer to get a kick off, only to have it blocked, but was thankful this club had the opportunity at the end to win it.

What’s been a tumultuous off-season of sorts is finally starting to settle down.

The Bears were without speedy wingback Johnny Lee, who Green said was suspended and will also miss Friday’s season opener at Vidalia and maybe another game. And they passed it &045; not something the offense has been accustomed to in recent seasons.

&uot;We were down to our second and third wingbacks,&uot; Green said. &uot;It just took us a while to get things going. When we had to, we threw it. They didn’t throw the ball hardly any last year. We’ve still got some little things to work out, but we’ll be OK.&uot;

The Bears had their best drives of the game at the end after falling behind 7-0 quickly to the Farmers. A 20-yard run from Bryan Collins set up Matt Johnson’s 1-yard run with 5:42 left in the second. Jarae Collins’ run on the two-point conversion put the lead at 8-7.

Farmerville drove down to the Block 3 and had to settle for a 20-yard field goal from Daniel Spruell.

The Bears used mostly pass plays to get down to the Farmers’ 20 when they tried to kick it on second down. The snap was bad, resulting in a loss of 8 yards, before the offense scrambled to kick it again and had it blocked.

&uot;I’m pleased with them,&uot; Green said. &uot;I was disappointed with their effort more than anything in the first half. The second half I thought they played pretty well. They had a pretty good goal-line stand. We’ll be ready for Vidalia next week.&uot;